Redeeming Light
by Cryssy-miu
Summary: Inner peace cannot be achieved on your own. Epilogue: This is the LAST chapter of "Redeeming Light" - so I expect every one that reads it to review! Else..you're just mean! Anyways, now living at the Jade Palace, Shen STILL has some loose ends to tie up.
1. Chapter 1

_(This is the first time I've EVER done a story that's slightly centered my OC. Well, it centers around Shen, the soothsayer, and my OC, but you know. Don't be judging me or my character too quickly. I've worked hard developing her and this is my first story with her. Without further adue...)_

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Redeeming Light  
><em>Prologue - The Heart In The Smoke<em>

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Birds chirped eagerly, greeting the new and glorious morning. Brilliant luminous shades of pink and orange glowed around the rising sun. It shone a bright and soft light onto the mountain top and Valley Of Peace.

"Brilliant job, students," Shifu praised lightly, watching with pride as his students sparred together. "But Kurisu, bring your leg up higher in your kicks!" he advised.

The kitten nodded to her teacher's advice, eying her target with playful malice: her brother. Her tail flicked up playfully; her eyes gleamed with childish evil as she brushed her tail against her brother's stomach.

"Ah – hey!" The panda leaped back immediately. He yelped a bit as he teetered on on a small rock, and nearly tripped backwards. Regaining his footing, he pouted at his younger adopted sister. "Tickling is cheating!"

The younger blue kitten laughed. "But the path to victory is-"

"-to find your opponents weakness and make him suffer – yeah, yeah," Po muttered. "But you can't tickle in a real battle! You have to know how to fight!"

At that, Kurisu's cheerful little grin dissipated into an angry scowl. "How dare you! _Who_ helped fight the bandits?" she demanded. "And who dragged you back up the stairs when a bandit knocked you out because you were distractedly eying a bowl of noodles on Dad's counter?"

The five paused in their training to watch the sibling spat with mild amusement.

"..You did," Po mumbled, glumly. He scowled when the kitten smirked triumphantly. "Fine, fine..I'm hungry." As if he wasn't always hungry.

Shifu hopped down off the Peach Tree Of Heavenly Wisdom. His daunting look confirmed Po's worst suspicions.

"Kurisu, fetch some dumplings for me to train Po with," the red panda instructed, chuckling as Po's face fell into a boyish pout.

"Oh, come on, man! Can't I just eat them?" the panda wailed. "Is there no _normal meals_ here?"

The grandmaster smirked. "No."

The kitten grinned, her developing fangs showing. "Right away, Master."

Oh, she could practically taste those delicious dumplings herself! She wondered if Shifu would be kind enough to allow her a bowl. After all, she didn't train by food. She trained in a normal fashion. Of course, Shifu had reminded her that everyone learned different.

_I guess Po learns best when he drools, _she inwardly giggled.

_Crash._

What was that?

Kurisu stumbled out of her thoughts, whirling to face the direction of The Sacred Hall Of Warriors. Now, she _knew_ that sound came from the hall. And with ears as big and alert as hers, there was no _way _she was mistaken.

_Bandits!_ Hoho, now was her chance to impress Shifu by taking on a bandit _alone_ for the first time! _Oh yeah! Bandit, you're going dooown!_With that, she charged into the hall.

The kitten was taken aback by the entrancing beauty of the feathers dancing before her eyes. Its deadly ruby tinge – dark and dangerous, glaring at her like a bunch of eyeballs. The small form (well, smaller than the fan of feathers), was turned to her, directed at the pedestal. At the _Sword Of Heroes._Even without having met the murderous peacock, she knew who he was.

"Shen!" the kitten shouted, instantly getting into a fighting stance.

He spun to her; his tail knocking over a case of shurikens as he did. At first there was a hint of nervousness on his face, fearing one of the five had come in. When he saw it was merely a child that only came up to his neck, he snorted, then laughed. "For a moment, I was almost worried." The cold smirked faded as he waved his wing in disgust. "Get her!"

Wolves tore down the pillars holding up the Sacred Hall Of Warriors, brandishing a barrage of weapons towards her.

The kitten gasped; a dim panicky feeling welled up in her chest. She couldn't fight all these wolves! And Lord Shen? Forget about it! Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Never mind that, she only had time for one thing: to jump. She leaped over the wolves' heads and clung to the pillar, leering down at Shen.

The peacock sheathed a long twisted blade from his robe and slammed the hilt of the sword into the pillar. It shook, but the child remained tightly clung.

"Persistent little brat," Shen snarled, his feathers flaring up in annoyance. "Kill her! If anyone here finds out we've been here to steal relics and catch us in the act – we're done for!"

"You're too late, you ugly chicken!" Kurisu yelled back. She flipped off the pillar and landed on all fours, tiny kitten claws extracted. "_I_ know you're here! If you want to leave here alive, you'll have to deal with me!"

Shen blinked, promptly bursting into laughter and encouraging his wolves to join in. "How precious, she actually feels she has a chance!" He brandished several throwing blades, kicking a foot out of his robe. "Well, come at me then."

The teenager didn't need to be told twice. She lunged at the peacock, thrusting out her lilac fan at him. He sidestepped it easily and knocked her on her back with his tail, raising his sword high above his head. Right before it plunged into the girl's stomach, she rolled away.

The kitten snarled with rage, sweep kicking the avian down and wrapping her tail around his ankle.

Shen growled like a wild animal, twisting his talons up and puncturing the child's tail with the metal contraptions on his feet. He sneered when she cried out in pain, a cruel smirk on his face. In a flash, his wing was wrapped around the girl's neck; a cold blade pressed against her throat. He spun the child to face him, examining her thoroughly.

"Hm...you may prove better use than I thought. I'm sure the palace would pay dearly to get _you _back." His smirk widened when the kitten's eyes dilated in fear and her ears went back. "Let's move out! Tie up the brat!" he ordered swiftly, still pointing his sword.

"No! Noooo!" Kurisu struggled, kicked, bit, and thrashed, but it only made a wolf handling her tie the restraints even tighter.

"She's a little wild cat, Master," one of the gorillas snickered to the peacock emperor. "I'd watch my step with her if I were you."

Striding out the back exit of The Sacred Hall Of Warriors, the peacock only coldly chuckled. "If she wishes to stay alive while in _my_ care, she'll learn to behave herself." He glanced back at the child, who's struggling was beginning to turn into desperation as she was dragged further from her home. Tears in her eyes, she struggled to pull her mouth away from the wolf's clamping hand, but to no avail.

"My brother will come and save me!" she muffled out from under the canine's paw. "And then he'll kick your feathered butt just like last time!"

Shen stopped walking."Like last time? You mean your _brother_ is...?"

She grinned evilly. "That's right."

"..._Your _brother?" Shen repeated, eyebrows raised in doubt.

"I think she's adopted, Master," one of the gorillas whispered. This earned him a painful smack in the face with the back of Shen's head.

"I was getting to that!" the peacock snarled. He paused, contemplating for a few minutes. He turned back towards the kitten, mockingly pinching her small blue cheeks. "Well, if your _brother _wants to save you, he'll have to find us first." His beady ruby eyes bored into hers. "We're in a slightly different location than last time."

The kitten panted worriedly; she stopped heckling him with questions, swallowing hard. "Wh-what do you want with me?"

"You'll see, child. You'll see."

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The soothsayer sighed as she silently went about preparing a meal for her lord. Noodles with bits of sweet plums: his favorite. She hoped he'd be in a better mood than he had the night before. Shattered dishes as a result of his tantrum were still littering the floor in little porcelain shards.

The doors to the _Dao-ming_ tower swung open and slammed abruptly into the wall. Shen was back. Oh joy.

The goat hesitantly approached her lord, unsettled by the eerily satisfied look on his face. "How did it go?"

"Quite well." Shen shoved the kitten forward roughly, chuckling at the stunned look on his nanny's face.

The soothsayer shook her head numbly, blood draining from her face. _Tell me it's not true..._"You didn't, Shen.."

A cruel sneer came to the avian's face.

"Just when I thought you couldn't stoop any lower!" the goat hissed, her fists clenched. "Have you actually kidnapped a _child?_"

He smiled thinly, leading the wolves and his new bewildered prisoner to an open cage. "Oh now, 'kidnap' is such a harsh word, soothsayer. I'm merely borrowing the girl for a while."

The aged goat's hoof clenched tighter on her cane. "And what do you plan to do with her!"

"Oh, I don't plan on harming the child." He snickered. "But I imagine the Jade Palace would pay well for her release. That little white rat can't afford to lose any of his little heroes."

The goat glanced worriedly over to the cage containing the kitten. "This is a new low, even for you," she said crossly, tapping her cane against the stone floors. "How much money are you going to ask for for the girl's release?"

"I'm not interested in their coins," he said coldly. "It's their relics I'm after this time. Not to mention the fact that having the brat here will lure THEM." Before the soothsayer could question him further, he strode towards Kurisu's cell.

Shen circled the cage containing his little prisoner. He chuckled darkly, sighting the tearful fear on her face as she gazed from where she sat, tiny, helpless to him. "And how are you enjoying your stay, kitten?"

Instead of responding, the child crouched down. Her back hunched up in feral mode as she summoned the most threatening "back off" hiss she could. Eyes narrowed, ears flat. Tiny still growing fangs baring.

And he had the audacity to laugh. "How cute." A wicked grin came to his face. "But you know, I can do it a _little bit _better." A roaring wind blew the kitten back a foot as he struck out his wings, fan like tail flaring up; its beady red eyes scattered among the feathers glaring darkly at her. He let out a low and vicious bird croak.

Kurisu swallowed hard, shutting her eyes and trying not to display her fear. Evidently failing.

The peacock emperor smirked, tucking his feathers into his sleeves masterly. "Provided you do as I say, I won't harm you. However.." His eyes glinted. "You disobey and I cannot guarantee your safety...or your _life_," he whispered.

"You said you couldn't harm the girl for the sake of the ransom," the soothsayer growled, eyes deeply leering at her lord. "What is the point in keeping her?"

"Oh hush, you old goat and just get your bowl ready," Shen ordered, striding towards the soothsayer. He peered down into her bowl. "Well?"

What arose was not what Shen was expecting. He waited, trying to sight what creature took the shape of the smoke. A panda? A tiger? Or perhaps he'd have to kill the Grandmaster to finally get what he wanted. No. A delicate pink heart floated up out of the smoke. So pretty he wanted to gag right there on the spot.

"Your path to victory..." Shen was obviously waiting for her to pronounce he'd have to kill some other species to finally rule China, and was baffled as she went on. "...Won't ever be achieved until you find somebody to care about other than yourself." She looked right into his eyes. "Somebody to care about _more_ than yourself. To learn to show compassion..."

Around this time, the heart intertwined; a pastel blue shading over one side of the pink heart, while a pale white took the other half of the heart.

"To learn to show _love._"

"What?" Shen hissed. "Have you lost your _mind? _Now tell me the REAL future!" He held his spiraled sword, threatening to shatter her new bowl.

"I just did.."

"Rubbish!" the peacock hissed, slamming the sword into the porcelain bowl and watching it shatter once more. He began to storm off.

"Is it really?" the soothsayer smirked after him. "Tell me, Shen, when have I been wrong?"

He stopped. For a few moments he didn't speak or turn to her. When he did, both the goat and Kurisu saw hidden pain in his features. "The day I put an end to caring about anyone was the day my parents decided not to love me anymore. Perhaps they never did."

He blinked, feeling the familiar tugging on his sleeve and looked down. "Oh, now really!" He yanked his robe from the soothsayer's mouth. "Don't you get tired of eating my clothes?"

A loud giggle arose from behind them and Shen whipped his head back to see Kurisu stifling laughter with her paw. Within an instant he was at the cage. She screamed and tried to scrambled to the back, but found herself suspended in the air by her foot.

Shen closed his talons around the kitten's ankle and dragged her to the bars, angry eyes burning into her quivering ones. "Something funny, kitten?"

The child kicked frantically at the air for a few frenzied moments, before her foot lined up with Shen and she kicked him straight in the face. A powerful Kung Fu kick.

His feathers bristled in rage as he rubbed his beak and considered pulling out a knife, but thought better of it. "Anymore of that.." He struck a foot into the bars and fiercely grabbed both the girl's feet. "And I'll put cuffs around both your feet as _well_ as your paws. Are we clear?"

Trembling, the girl nodded. "U-uh-huh."

He turned to leave, but her impertinent question froze him in his tracks.

"What about your parents not caring about you? How do you even know that?"

Seeing red for a moment, it took every ounce of chi he could muster to keep from pinning a blade through her little throat. "Don't speak unless spoken to, prisoner! What you asked is _none_ of your concern," the peacock snarled.

The kitten could note undeniable pain in his features when she mentioned his parents. "Are you okay?" Now her face – once holding disdain and hate now held nothing but pity and concern. Suddenly, she was seeing more than simply a genocidal peacock.

Shen glanced back at her, eyes narrowed. The hate painted on his face masked the well hidden pain. "Feed the kitten, soothsayer," he ordered the goat, and abruptly left the room without another word.

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(_Thought I'd give it a shot. _

So, it sets in Dao-ming temple - "shining path" - much further behind where The Tower of The Sacred Flame once stood (before Shen detonated it). I noticed there was a lot of distant trees behind the palace, so I figured it was a perfect place to put my smaller temple.

This isn't really going to be a fic per say, just a series of drabbles twined into one. Still, it needed a prologue. So it mostly focuses on Shen, Kurisu, and the soothsayer. But of course everyone else will come in from time to time. I mean, they'll be looking for the kitten XD

_I know I haven't posted Kurisu's story, but traditionally her name means "Crystal". She's a Russian Blue Kitten, but her family immigrated to Japan ages before she was born, and lived in the Japanese Village "Peony Grove" until she was five. Her village was razed to the ground and she was left in a family friend's care – Mr. Ping. This occurs when Po is about eleven.)_


	2. Chapter 2

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 1 - Testing The Limits<em>

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_Sheng Li: trusted future ruler of Gongmen and son of Lady Ah-Lam and Lord Jin of the royal peacock clan had been banished. Declared a disgrace to his family's honor and to his city; set to leave Gongmen and never return..within just a few moments._

_The Lord and Lady couldn't bring themselves to say good-bye to their son; the prospect of having to send him off only burrowing them deeper and deeper into their own personal hell. They shut the palace doors to him and left him in silence with the soothsayer._

_The soothsayer stood back to look at her chick. The tiny sweet little albino hatchling that had toddled behind her like a second shadow; chirping, clinging to her robes and smiling at her. The chick that had called her "Nai nai" and "Nana". The chick she had put to bed every night, held him, told him stories. Her chick that had somehow turned into the cold killer that was responsible for the death of an entire village and its destruction._

_Shen was silent. He stared off into the distance, watched his trusted wolves pack his belongings. He turned back to his nanny._

_No, she wasn't his nanny anymore. She hadn't been for some time, but she was still always someone he hated to disappoint. Words couldn't begin to describe her disappointment and shame she felt for him, and he knew it._

_The goat looked up at the young peacock; her heart toiling in pain at his expression. She wanted so bad to reach up and tenderly smooth his feathers, but she knew she couldn't. To do so would mean she was sheltering him and coddling him, letting him know that things were okay. They weren't. She had to cut the ties that bonded them as mother and child. Her hooves stayed firmly at her side._

_"You didn't stick up for me." Shen's cold voice broke the agonizing silence._

_The goat blinked back her tears, and clutched her cane tightly._

_Shen hardened his jaw and his heart. "Good-bye, Min Yun." It was the first time he ever addressed her by her real name. "I will see you again."_

_This was not meant as a heartfelt promise; it was a threat._

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The soothsayer's body shuddered in fear at the memory, forcing her eyes to open and greet the morning glow outside her window. That nightmare. That moment; she wouldn't ever forget it. Her own subconscious wouldn't let her forget it.

She slipped her hooves into a pair of narrow and worn slippers, reluctantly making her way into the main abandoned throne room. She saw the kitten was already up, playing with a spider on the ceiling.

Kurisu's ears perked up in happiness when she saw the old goat. Her fur was ruffled and unkempt, probably a little dirty from laying down on the concrete too. None the less, her eyes sparkled when she saw the kind old goat.

"Good morning, miss...goat lady."

The soothsayer smiled fondly at the child, walking up to the tiny cage. After everything that had happened, she knew the girl could use some kindness that she was most willing to give. "Good morning, dear. Are you hungry?"

A gurgle from the girl's stomach spoke before she had a chance to. "Eheh.." Her face flushed as she smiled in embarrassment. The smile gradually faded as she looked around worriedly. "Is Shen around?"

"I don't think so," the soothsayer sighed. She gave a light smile, handing the girl some sweet bread. "I don't think he was planning on starving you anyways."

Kurisu took the bread with a soft thank you. "Why am I here?"

The aged goat sighed heavily as she slumped into a sit next to the girl (outside of the bars, of course). "I wish I knew, dear. I wish I could get you out, but I can't." She reached through the bars and gripped the kitten's soft paws. "I can promise to take care of you though. You may be under Shen's rule, but.." Her eyes glinted mischievously. "He's under mine, whether he thinks he is or not."

Kurisu blinked, then giggled a bit. "Thank you...What can I call you?"

The soothsayer stiffened. Did she even have a name anymore? Well, it seemed to vary between 'soothsayer', 'you old goat' - from Shen, of course – and the name now archaic: 'Nana.'

"Nana," she answered thickly, not even thinking about it. She bit her lip when she realized what she said and knew the kitten was probably giving her the weirdest of looks. She wasn't.

"Nana, okay," Kurisu said happily. "You remind me of my grandmother."

The old goat smiled.

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"Give me one good reason why I should show compassion to the brat," Shen told his soothsayer, pacing the dusty halls of _Dao-ming._

"For heavens sake Shen, she's just a child!" The goat authoritatively tapped her cane against the tile floors, what she hoped would startle him. When he was a tot, that and 'the look' was really all that had to be done to reduce the chick to a tiny sniffling little ball of albino feathers.

"Is that _really_ all you can think of?" the peacock emperor demanded. "You've become so pathetic."

The soothsayer was breathing funny. That had hit her hard. Of course, with his malicious change why should his tongue be immune to such disrespect?

"Shen, listen to my foretelling for once," she growled, forcing her voice to be resolute.

Feathers flattening in hate from the remembrance, he leered at her. "I did. Look where that got me. I kill a population of pandas and it still doesn't change anything. So what's the point?"

"You _cannot _change what your destiny is to be!" she said sternly.

"My destiny is to rule China."

"Is it _really? _Did you think maybe, perhaps, what I foretold last night could be your destiny?"

The peacock scoffed. "To become a compassionate teddy bear spreading good cheer and hugs and kisses-" he shuddered - "and a loving – quite frankly - _babysitter_ to the _cat?_"

"You're exaggerating it," the goat sighed. "I never said _that. _How long has it been since you've shown compassion? Shown mercy? I can't remember."

"Where exactly does 'mercy' fit in the whole ruling China fact?" he snapped.

"It doesn't!" she hissed. "But it will get you what you want. What you don't _realize_ you want." She smirked as her rhetorical answer seemed to baffle him as always.

Shen remained quiet, eying the forest with a disdainful expression. Slowly, he turned his head to the aged goat. "Well, what exactly would you have me do with the kitten anyways?"

The soothsayer rested her arms on the balcony. "Not _do_ anything, per say. Just... be more gentle." He snorted, but she frowned and went on. "Don't treat her so harshly, stop threatening to...slice her limbs off would be a _very_ good start. Maybe let the poor thing out of that freezing cage."

The peacock didn't refuse, but he didn't oblige. "Just go prepare breakfast."

The soothsayer gave the most annoyed of huffs, figuring that was probably the best she'd get out of him. As she threw open the doors to the kitchen, she couldn't resist growling this,

"I outta make that chick go out and cut his own switch."

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The day progressed and it was clear by the increasing threats and verbal abuse that Shen wasn't listening to his soothsayer's advice - as usual. Although – the soothsayer was pleased to see that he allowed more to the kitten's food ration and even let her have a few steamed pears that she had cooked the night before.

There was no real progress though. If anything, Shen was becoming far more hostile. His hatred grew every time he glanced at the kitten. Every look just made his black heart burn brighter with a fiery rage.

She was young, free, able to do what she wanted,..and quite obviously had the approval of her family. Above all, she was most certainly _loved. _The worst thing about her were those stupid eyes. Wide and sad and full of sympathy and caring. He wanted to tear them both out with his dagger. He knew he had to restrain himself. He couldn't hold a ransom against the Jade Palace for an eyeless kitten.

"Are you okay?" came her meek little voice from where she sat at the front of her cage.

He snarled, beak curving back in anger, before storming back to his throne. He turned away from her, beady eyes focused on the ground.

Kurisu gently gripped the metal bars to her cage, mouth creasing in pity and understanding. As others would simply glare upon this creature in hatred and waste no time killing him if they had the chance – she was different. Where her friends and master only saw a monster with no soul and a heart for blood lust, she didn't see that. (Well, she used to.) She could feel the pain radiating off his heart, saw further than his anger in those red eyes that could be gentle if they tried.

Shen's hunched back bristled with rage when he felt her eyes on him. "Stop staring at me!" he snarled, and threw a dagger at the cage, deliberately trying to miss her.

The kitten watched the blade bounce off one of the bars next to her with a clang. She bent down to take a good look at it. How much flesh had this one torn?

Shen sat back in his chair, groaning when he felt her little eyes on him once more. _Control yourself, Shen. You can't get much for her if you hurt her._ He slumped deeper in his chair, hoping to get out of range of her eyes.

A pain like no other pierced his chest, making his eyes bulge and him gasp for breath. It was the results of the grueling battle with the Dragon Warrior. Who knew that panda could be so deadly? He squinted his eyes shut and prayed to the gods of mercy that the agony would pass soon.

Kurisu clutched at the bars, wanting so badly to help. "Are you alright? What's the matter?"

Even through his pants, he summoned enough of a growl to say this, "_don't _speak, unless instructed, prisoner."

"My name is Kurisu.."

He flared. "WHAT DID I JUST – okay, fine, _Kurisu._" He balled up a bit more, the barbs of pain slicing deeper into his ribs. Every breath was becoming an agonizing struggle.

"You're hurting.." There were actually _tears_ in the girl's eyes.

Slowly, Shen glanced up. The hateful glare had faded off a bit as he gazed at her, eyes narrowed in confusion and bitterness when he asked, "...Why do you care?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

The peacock stood, shaking his head. "I can think of an endless list of reasons of why you shouldn't. I tried to kill your – uh – brother, your friends, that little tree rat, destroy your home.._take over _China! Etc, etc, etc."

Her response was only a two letter word, but it actually floored him beyond comprehension. "..So?"

He straightened a little, gazing deep into her turquoise irises with a look of utter confusion. "What?"

"You're still like anyone else... and you're hurting in more ways than you want to admit." She couldn't quite grasp the emotion on his face. Anger? Sadness? Confusion? Perhaps all of the above, fore he turned away from her and furiously stormed back to his throne.

The girl's ears bent back sadly as she poked her head through the bars. Even at such a far distance from him, she could see torn feathers on his right wing concealing a swollen gash. It was red, slightly purple and slick with infection.

"Are you okay? That looks really infected," the child pointed out, gesturing to the peacock's wing. "Did you clean it? When'd you get that?"

"Do you ever shut up?" Shen snapped.

"Nope."

He merely shook his head.

"You should clean that."

Silence.

"It'd be bad if you don't."

Silence.

"You could get blood poisoning."

Silence.

"You could die!"

"RAGH – I told you to _SHUT UP!_" the peacock snarled, gripping a throwing blade.

Despite the fact the genocidal peacock was threatening her with a knife, the kitten only grinned. "No, you asked _if_ I ever shut up."

"..." The heaviest of sighs.

All traces of playfulness gone from the girl's face as the serious frown returned. "But really, Shen, an infected cut is nothing to fool around with." She poked her head all the way through the metal bars. "Let me out and I can help you clean it! My grandmother knew a lot in medicine and she taught me some tricks when I was younger."

The peacock smirked faintly, his wings tucked into his sleeves. Kurisu caught the grimace of pain that shot over his face as the fabric rubbed his cut.

"Do you really think I'd fall for such a trick? I let you out and you take off. You can't pull the wool over my eyes, you insolent brat," he snapped.

The child pouted and rattled at her cage. "If you're so afraid I'll sneak off, then bolt the doors or somethin'." Her ears went back in more hurt, which further infuriated him. "I'm just tryin' to help."

He said nothing for about five minutes, glancing from his injured and droopy wing, to the hopeful kitten. Staying silent, he reached into his robe and took out something silver: a throwing blade, obviously. In a flash, it had cut through the lock. Only a millisecond later, another blade sliced through the girl's cuffs.

Kurisu gasped happily when she looked down at her unbounded paws. In one eager hop, she was out of the cage. Shen stayed poised, ready to strike her down with a blade if she attempted to run. To his confusion however, the kitten scampered over to the other room rather than to the great doors; she came back with a dusty old medical kit.

"Okay, sit down."

His eyes narrowed. "Do you really think I take orders from a ch-" And somehow she had pushed him back into the chair. No one but the soothsayer would have the audacity to do so – if he hadn't hidden the wound from her, that is.

Biting off a bandage, Kurisu took a hold of the peacock's wing. She noticed how fiercely he tensed up when she touched him. It was obvious that he wasn't used to being touched. His wing stayed tight.

"If you don't loosen your wing, this will really hurt," she warned him. She sighed as a low growl sounded from the peacock's clenched beak, but he obeyed. Gently, she dabbed the medicine on.

What resulted next was an explosion of fire that tore and licked its way up his wing, quickly reaching a degree that words could not begin to describe.

"OwwWWWW!" He flapped the injured wing frantically, trying to get a cool breeze of relief to extinguish the merciless flame biting deeper into the wound as the medicine did its work.

Kurisu pursed her lips, biting back an amused chuckle. "I told you." She was nearly smacked in the face with his rapidly shaking wing.

Oh, that medicine! Shen absolutely _hated_ that medicine! He could recall quite clearly in his youth: dashing frantically under tables and beds while the soothsayer chased him with a gentle scolding voice, stopping his dash to freedom at the usual spot: the fireplace mantel, where he sometimes climbed to escape the typical things children feared: medicine; baths; bedtime, and vegetables. He remembered squirming and crying loudly in her arms as she firmly held his injured limb and dabbed it with medicine, while wiping his tears and smoothing his feathers.

The peacock bit his lip as the agony intensified; he found whimpers were threatening him.

Kurisu seemed to catch sight of this. "Master Shifu says it's good to let out emotions; you shouldn't repress them. Get angry when you need to, cry when you n-"

He cut her off right there. "I don't cry." His tone was cold, bitter, and short. "I don't ever cry. I have not cried since I was a chick and I'm never going to again. I decided at a young age that nothing is accomplished by tears other than burning red eyes, a wet face, and successfully showing yourself vulnerable and weak."

"_Repressing_ tears shows _true _weakness."

He _bristled_ in rage. OH, she had hit a nerve. And it wasn't like if Shifu's nerves were hit and he yelled and raged or stormed off. No, she had hit Lord Shen – a murderer's nerve.

His feathers flared up and he gripped a dagger. He threw it like a spear – directly at one of the kitten's long sleeves to her kimono, causing it to pin the frightened kitten to the wall.

"_SHUT UP!_"

Another dagger was thrown, getting her other sleeve. Shen had to struggle to calm himself before he missed the target of her clothes and actually hit _her._ His plan was to keep the girl in captivity and not touch her. He didn't think his prisoner would be this intolerable and _infuriating._

If anything, he had effectively shut her up. The kitten stood there against the wall; her head up high, throat tight in fear as she waited for a fatal blow from one of his knives.

The peacock whipped towards her and roughly seized her from her kimono, slamming her up against him and tearing a large part from her sleeve where it stayed on the wall pinned under the dagger.

"You have given me every reason to slice your jabbering mouth open like a cantaloupe," he whispered menacingly to her, the tip of his dagger lightly touching her lips to emphasize his point. "Lucky for you, I plan to hand you back to your friends in one piece after they pay the ransom." His mouth curved into a furious grimace. "Would you just..leave..me..ALONE! I never asked for your pathetic little 'kernels of wisdom!' For the love of the gods, make this experience less excruciating for the both of us and keep your mouth SHUT!"

The gentle and compassionate look had faded into fury that reflected his own. "I'm only trying to knock some sense into that bird brain head of yours!" And she reeled back, a blinding pain over her left cheek. She looked to see Shen holding some sort of switch tightly, still raised high.

"You insolent, impudent, brat - _how dare you..._" He smirked at her tears as she tenderly touched her stinging cheek. Before the kitten could open her mouth, he brought the switch down again; it made a red sizzling strip across the front of her thigh.

"I'm trying to help," she whimpered. "Why do you f-find-" her voice broke off as she sobbed from the pain, "tears to be so weak?"

"Because they just are. A warrior doesn't cry. A _warlord_ and king does not cry."

"But what do you think holding back tears will accomplish?"

"..." His feathers drooped. "_Leave me alone._" It wasn't loud or snarled, but for some reason it sounded more menacing and threatening than if he had screamed it. "Put the girl back in her cage," he ordered one of the wolves.

Kurisu didn't struggle as she was lead back to the cage; a new lock replacing the one Shen had shattered. She curled up silently in the corner, bringing up tear filled eyes to the soothsayer as she walked in.

The goat sadly looked over at Shen, who was back to being hunched over with a suddenly less than angry look on his face. Pain, pure pain. She looked over at the kitten, who's face and leg was swelling. She decided not to ask.

xxxxxxxx

_(My last update until after exams. So...a week or so from now. And I'm getting sick again. __ That's really wonderful. On exam week too. I'm going to go lie down...  
><em>  
><em>Dao-ming - Shining Path<em>

_Ah-lam - Like an orchid_

_Jin - Gold_

_Min Yun - Quick sensitive; melody_

_Sheng Li (Shen's full name) - Victorious, of high success)_


	3. Chapter 3

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 2 - Hallucinations, nightmares, And Realities <em>

_xxxxxxxx_

_So how did he behave, Lord Jin?" the soothsayer asked, reluctance in her voice._

_The elder peacock hesitated. That was enough to make the goat groan. "He didn't misbehave, per say. He was just...very closed up. I mean, with that child it's normal since he's having trouble adjusting to us. He shunned every attempt I made at conversation and to engage him in things."_

_"I'm afraid that was my doing." The soothsayer's voice was full of grating guilt. "It's a long story. The prince is very mad at me, and with reason to be." She didn't feel like talking, so she stopped Jin before he could ask anything. "Where's the little one now?"_

_"He should be outside," Jin smiled. "He loves to play near the well."_

_They reached the beautiful palace courtyard, where they suspected to find the tiny chick playing in the flowers; chasing his ball or – since it was one of his bad days – glaring disdainfully at his white reflection._

_Nothing._

_"That's odd.." The soothsayer couldn't shake the terrible feeling twisting in her stomach. "He doesn't normally stray further than the flower beds."_

_That's when they heard it: the unmistakable child's cry, stifled and echoing from somewhere. A tunnel? A cave? A tube? It was bouncing off stone walls. Stone walls..._

_The goat bolted to the well, moving considerably fast for someone her age. Of course, mother instincts allowed you to do the seemingly impossible._

_He was there, clinging to his tattered ball that had obviously fallen into the well, and him following suit. He was crying, dirt streaked, and shivering as he scrambled at the walls with his wings._

_"Nana! Baba!"_

_The soothsayer's hooves weren't sure where to go: her heart, before she shortly died of a heart attack, or to her face in horror._

_"He-he's in the well!"_

_Jin looked absolutely horrified. "How'd he get down THERE?"_

_"You tell me!" the goat roared at him, forgetting for a second that she was talking to her lord and superior. "I leave him with you for merely a half hour and come back to find my chick at the bottom of a WELL!" No one ever rebuked her for calling Shen her chick; he was more her's than he was his own parents' anyways._

_"Nanaa!" the four year old bawled, clinging to his ball in terror. "I'm stuck!"_

_"Sheng Li, how in the world did you even get down there!"_

_He was having a hard time getting anything out through his cries. "T-the ball!" he sobbed. "M-mah ball went down in the well!"_

_"Why didn't you ask your Baba to help you get it?" his nanny cried._

_For a moment, the chick's teary red eyes darkened. He glared at the water when he remembered his nanny's unintentional and misinterpreted comment of "being a bit weaker than the other peacocks". He wiped his eyes and shouted up at her,_

_"I could do it MYSELF!"_

_The old goat sighed heavily, grating guilt in her voice. Why did she have to say that earlier? Why couldn't she have worded it better? Shen wouldn't be down there if it wasn't for her._

_Thundering Rhino rushed over the moment he heard Shen crying. He had his cloud hammer handy, scooped the chick out with it. Jin had been mildly disappointed when Shen reached for the soothsayer, rather than him._

_The rhino had dried him, carefully inspecting to see if he had any wounds on him. He spoke in hushed whispers with the soothsayer, asking for her permission to take the boy in for a day, try him in Kung Fu lessons. Of course, that would be a big mistake._

_But the rhino would live to know that. _

xxxxxxxx

Oh, Shen had loved the old rhino dearly as he grew up. It dawned on him now that the primary reason for that love that Shen never could figure out was because the rhino was one of the only people that Shen really knew that didn't treat him as weak and fragile as an infant.

Being an albino peacock with...well, an immune system like an infant's, Shen had grown bitterly accustomed to the "special treatments" given to him. Every being that ever came in contact with him treated him like he could shatter into a million pieces if touched.

Shen groaned. His head was pulsating with pain, like every molecule of blood had drained from his clawed feet and to his brain. He shut his eyes against the pain, but that only made his eyelids forced to press up against his warm forehead, which caused further discomfort.

It was going to be one of those days, wasn't it? The kind of day where his stoic and flawless body regressed back to the weak and vulnerability it had when he was a chick; the kind of day where he _would_ feel like a chick, bedridden, groggy, stuffy. Well, not if he had anything to say about it.

He pushed himself up against the pain and dizziness, carefully opening his eyes as slowly as he could. Colors blurred for a moment, before dimly focusing as much as they could into a bleary picture that hurt to look at.

"Shen?"

He jumped, groaning and touching his forehead as he did. "Ugh. What?" His eyes narrowed when he recognized the soft childish chime. "What are you even doing out of your cage?" he snapped at the kitten.

Carefully, Kurisu stepped in. She smiled at him. "Nana let me out."

For a moment, the peacock said nothing as he processed what she just called the soothsayer with his sick brain. (In more ways than one.)

"_What_," he hissed, "did you just call the old goat?" There was a dangerous tone to his voice, but Kurisu sensed more than that. Jealousy?

"The soothsayer asked me to call her Nana," the kitten said quietly. She watched his eyes narrow further, but he said nothing. So, she continued. "Are you hungry?"

The mention of food sent Shen's stomach into a painful twist, and one that surged the threat of vomit up his throat. He closed his eyes and laid back down.

"Are you alright?" Oh there was that annoyingly concerned voice, and Shen could see the kitten examining him, head titled in worry.

"I'm fine," he growled out quietly, really just wanting to be left alone if the kitten was merciful enough to grace him with that wish. "Tell the soothsayer that I'm not hungry."

"...You're not fine," came the girl's cynically doubtful voice. She was just like the soothsayer: able to see through his pathetic lies. That just made Shen hate her even more.

"I am well enough to stab a blade into that ugly blue eye of yours," he growled, annoyed when she didn't look intimidated, but amused. He closed his eyes again, relieved when he heard her tiny little feet finally leave the room.

Not oh, a minute later, hooves entered the room.

The peacock looked up at his nanny, then glared at the kitten at her side. "You _told_ on me?"

She just smirked.

Within a few seconds of examining her chick, making him stick out his tongue; checking his fever; making him do a walking test – which he failed miserably and slammed back into his nest – the soothsayer deemed him ill and ordered him to stay in bed until he was better.

Shen snarled at her. "Are you crazy? Where in that thick head of yours do you feel you still have authority over m-"

She stopped him right there, leaning into his face with wide angry eyes. Every word of hers was slightly punctuated and drawn out as a threat.

"You're...staying...in...bed." That was the mom look. Shen knew from painful butt warming experiences – not that he feared she had the audacity to do just that - _that you do not fight the mom look._

"..." He slumped back down without another word.

The soothsayer's voice was gentle now, nurturing. "Sleep, Shen. We'll come check on you in a bit."

Sleep, he did not welcome. Sleep, his body welcomed. Little did he know that after this experience, his _subconscious_ wouldn't ever welcome sleep again. 

xxxxxxxx

_The dream started off as very familiar. Oh yes, this was when he had tried to run away from home when he was four._

_Shen remembered it all clearly. He had been a little hell raiser that night, dashing about as all tots are apt to do when they're sentenced to a bath before bed. He remembered climbing up the mantel near the fireplace, stubbornly perching there and refusing to get down, despite the soothsayer's hurled threats._

_He remembered being set down, red faced, red bummed, and crying, sternly ordered to go to bed. Which he refused, and she had carried him to his room and spanked him again. He told her that he was going to run away and she had taught him a cruel lesson as she packed him up and sent him into the night._

_In the dream, he was wandering around the boundaries of Gongmen like he had been when he was young. The soothsayer following secretly, watching to make sure he didn't step into any danger. He cried quietly for his Nana with every loud noise and scary shadow. He approached the crocodile river and cried harder when one of the beasts leered at him._

_But something was wrong. The reptiles weren't ignoring him in the dream like they had been when he was four. No, they were coming after him. He tried to scream and run back to Nana because he knew she was there, but they grabbed him, tore at his feathers. He screamed more and realized he was now an adult; a sick and weak peacock that should be in bed, but he wasn't. He was crying in the dream – he didn't cry, did he?_

_The panda? When did he get here? He was helping the crocodiles tear at him. And Shen was crying and scrambling to get out of the water and the blood. But he couldn't._

_Nana! Kitten! Oh gods – someone help me!_

_xxxxxxxx_

Shen screamed in the dream, unsure if he could be heard as he woke up. Yes, his throat was hurting. He had screamed in reality. He was sweating and he felt someone's hand on his chest.

_Nana?_

No, no, it was that insufferable kitten again! Of course, seeing anyone in this nightmarish hour was welcomed so Shen didn't snarl at her to go away. Did he even have the voice to do that? He flinched when he felt the child feel his forehead.

"Your fever is still really high," Kurisu told him, keeping a gentle paw on his tummy. "You've been out for two days. Nana went out to get some medicine. I told her I'd look after you." She smiled at him. "How are you feeling, Shen?"

If he had the energy to scream at her for such a ridiculous question, he would have. Or perhaps stuck something through her lips to finally shut them. He only glared at her, hoping to intimidate her, but he failed.

"You don't scare me." Her face and tone didn't say otherwise either. Was he really that un-threatening when he was sick? Had he lost his touch? Or was the kitten just..comfortable with him?

Shen moaned, which sounded like a dying croak – as he turned onto his side, wrapping his wings around him. He realized he was in a very light and thin robe. The soothsayer must have changed him out of his heavy robes while he was unconscious.

"You've been hallucinating a lot," the kitten told him, laying a cool cloth on his burning forehead. "They must have been bad because you did a lot of thrashing and yelling, and you were whimpering."

The peacock closed his eyes. How embarrassing. Was he really that bad at controlling his reactions to his subconsciousness?

"Nana should be back soon," Kurisu told him kindly, pushing a glass of water into his slightly open beak. "Get some rest."

He was afraid to.

xxxxxxxx

_This dream – no -hallucination started out a lot different. They weren't morphed imaged of what happened in the past._

_He and Nana – and the kitten? - were behind Dao-ming temple by the waterfall that Shen always loved to look at on the balcony. What were they doing? They were PLAYING? This wasn't the past, and it certainly wasn't the future – Shen did not play with anyone! ...But he was._

_Kurisu was laughing and chasing at his tail, jumping on his tail like the kitten she was. Shen watched himself, waiting to see if he'd pin her to the tree with a blade or at least threaten to kill the child, but he didn't. He merely did something Po would probably do – grab her by her tail and lightly toss her into the waterfall with a small smirk._

_She leaped back out at him again, back to his tail. Nibbling on it. OH, how dare that little brat! Get her disgusting kitten saliva over his beautiful and perfect feathered tail. He waited to see if he'd slash her with something, but he only grabbed her by her feet to trip her._

_Nana came in at this point; she gave him a tickling poke in the side to throw him off balance, which she __did well, and then she pushed him into the waterfall. She was laughing and so was the kitten. Shen wasn't laughing, but he wasn't getting mad. How could he not be getting mad?_

_The sun went away, clouded by a thousand black clouds all at once. Shadows loomed towards the three; Nana pushed Kurisu behind her, and Shen pushed them _both _behind him. Since when did he care about that stupid cat?_

_The shadows attacked. They weren't going after him, they were going after Nana and Kurisu! And they weren't ordinary shadows: they were Thundering Rhino and his Wolf boss! Was that Mama and Baba there too? They were clawing, tearing, biting, kicking at Kurisu and Nana. They didn't deserve that! If the shadows were looking to punish him, why go after them?_

_Mama! Baba! Master-! Stop-! Leave them alone!_

xxxxxxxx

Shen awoke with a painful gag and a cough, sweating and almost screaming. The soothsayer was there, a hand on his head to calm him and check the fever.

"Calm down, dear. You're alright..." She was using the soft Nana voice that he rarely heard from her. "Your fever is still quite high. Go back to sleep..."

Shen still couldn't talk, but he shook his head. He wasn't ever going to sleep again.

Xxxxxxxx

_(Not much to say here other than "will do longer description after exams")_


	4. Chapter 4

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 3 - Happiness<em>

_The morning was crisp; the sun shining a sepia ray of light down outside of Dao-ming. It hit the flower petals and reflected off the glistening pond, forming a rainbow as it melted into the waterfall._

_Shen was there at his Nana's side, contently dipping the tip of his horse bristle brush into a palette of blue and green paint. He stroked the brush across the page, watching as it intertwined with the old goat's purple swirl, creating a mingle of distorted colors, but equally pretty._

_He felt great. The burning pain that made just moving and opening his eyes a struggle had extinguished. The thick haze gone; his strength returned. He felt relatively happy and content. For some reason, he decided not to question why he was painting side by side with his Nana and the kitten._

_Like a toddler, the kitten was really going all out on the paint, and all out on her! She used her tail as a brush, red paint stuck to her whiskers and occasionally dripped onto the page. She didn't seem to mind it though, and only smiled when a few drips of paint made unintentional eyeballs on a sun she was painting._

_No, the day couldn't be nicer. The trio couldn't be happier. Shen could faintly understand why he felt so oddly content, but he didn't care. After days of fever and agony, it was welcomed with open arms._

_And everything good ended. He should have expected that, shouldn't he? It was one of_ his _dreams after all. Who was going to die this time? Who's blood would be spilled? What sights would he see? Why didn't he wake himself up while he had the chance? Or was he too sick to pull himself from unconsciousness without help?_

_There wasn't time to react, and it wasn't like he would have been able to stop the malevolent forces even if he wanted to. He was cast aside, a pain returning. It wasn't like any pain he felt before; his eye was on fire...or was it even there? He touched the empty socket from where the panda had slammed his mallet into his face. Now he knew how the wolf had felt._

_The dream seemed to go by in slow motion, Shen's eye to the sky. He could see – from one eye – the blurred images of black and white: pandas, trample by. He tried to call out to them, tried to snarl._

_That's when he heard Nana scream._

_Instantly, he was a wild deranged animal; the kind of hatred and dangerous fire in his eyes that you only see when the animal – or the one they're protecting – 's life is in the balance. He snarled and kicked and bucked, but he couldn't escape the cruel hold the dream had as it pinned him to the ground. He heard Nana scream louder – a pained cry, heard the panda roar._

_Revenge. The panda was getting revenge on him – avenging his beloved wife that Shen had killed – by killing his Nana. He heard her crumple to the ground, remembering as the female panda had crumpled as he and the wolf stabbed their blades into her. He wasn't seeing the panda's face though._

_He was seeing Nana._

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Shen jolted, the scream held hostage in his throat by his swollen tonsils shoving it back down. He shot up and ignored the returned pain. He was shaking – and thanking the gods he could blame that little factor on the fever.

"Shen?" And she was there at his side, placing another cloth on his scalding forehead. Her beard dangling a bit into his face.

Shen breathed out in shaky relief when he saw her. Oh, he knew that horrific nightmare was just a nightmare, but he still needed to see her face.

"Soothsayer?" That was close, he nearly slipped and called her 'Nana.' Oh look at that, he could finally speak. "How long have I been asleep for?"

She frowned in concern, cupping away a few head feathers to look into his eyes. "You just woke up an hour ago and were talking to me. Don't you remember?"

He shook his head.

"Other than that, we haven't really seen those sweet little red eyes open for days." He wondered if she was making fun on the word 'sweet.' "Your fever is still high and you're staying in bed." It was a non-negotiable tone, but he didn't feel like fighting it.

He laid back down, head twinging in agony as it hit even the soft cool pillow. He kept an eye open, wanting to make sure she didn't fade off or crumple in a pool of blood. He _was_ awake, wasn't he?

She sat there, casually chewing at his robe in a cheerful manner, sucking the entire fabric from his sleeve into her mouth.

Shen rolled his eyes, then closed them. Oh yeah; he was awake.

It was nearly a week until the soothsayer deemed him well enough to finally leave that prison – comfy prison. He stretched for the first time in a week; stood up, flexed his metal talons against the tile floor and allowed a smile to snake over his beak.

"Shen? You're up!"

There goes the smile. The peacock glowered over at the perky child in his usual disdainful coldness; a far cry from the affection his dream self seemed to feel towards her. He'd have to remind his subconscious mind to smarten up.

"I can't even enjoy my first time out of bed in a week without you shrieking in my ear, can I?" he snapped at her, annoyed when his deliberately hurtful tone didn't fall the smile on the girl's face.

She instead held up a platter of food as an answer. Seasoned rice with sweet plum bits. Sago tarts and mint tea. His favorite combination for a meal, but how did she know that?

"Nana and I made this for you this morning," Kurisu grinned. "It was my idea." She held the tray out to him and he reluctantly took it, biting down on his tongue when he almost thanked her.

The soothsayer had already laid out a beautiful feast on the table. A breakfast feast fit for three to put it less dramatically. None the less, Shen's eyes bulged at all the delicious plates laid out on the porcelain table. He flushed a bit when the goat and kitten grinned at his wide eyes, and he kept dignified as he sat down.

Both the soothsayer and kitten joined him. Shen didn't bother snapping at his nanny and demanding why the stupid girl was out of her cell _again._ He may as well face it: she was a guest now, Nana had made her into that. He may be the kitten's warden, but Nana was his and nothing would ever change that. He had to completely submit to her.

Shen chewed the delicious morsels of food, letting the sweet tangy juice of the plum fill his mouth. He rested his head back against the chair and almost smiled. It was delicious; those two cooks made quite a pair. If this was his reward with putting up with that insolent kitten doddering around the temple then perhaps it was worth it.

"Not bad," he said docilely. "Plums are sweet."

"Picked from the bush right outside the temple," the soothsayer chimed in, smiling. "I knew you'd like them."

He hummed in acknowledgement. Oh, yes, the plums were very sweet. So sweet that he noticed how quickly Kurisu gobbled them and actually turned to _his _plate – just to have her paw unceremoniously slapped away.

The teen pouted and rubbed at her sore paw as the soothsayer got up and tugged on Shen's wing a bit.

"I want to talk to you."

The peacock sighed, but allowed himself to be pulled away from the table, occasionally glancing back to make sure his food was untouched.

"The girl has been here for a week now and she's beginning to-"

"Oh, hold on." Shen didn't even turn his head, but threw a blade towards the table, calculating his aim and sticking the knife like an arrow into the wood when he noticed that pesky kitten's paw reaching out again. She squealed and drew back in fright.

"You were saying?" he asked, turning back to the goat.

She huffed. "The girl is beginning to lose some of her color." She watched the peacock's eyes roll; he knew where this was going. "I think you should let her outside."

"Absolutely not," he said flatly.

"Shen, please," his nanny sighed, leaning her chin on her cane; what she did when she was really frustrated and tired. "If you keep the girl locked up she could get really sick. She could even die!"

Shen grimaced, annoyed at the thought of the kitten dying. If she died – well, he wasn't going through the trouble of kidnapping another child from the Jade Palace. Besides, she was the only child. He blinked as a different sensation twinged at him when he thought of the kitten dying from sickness. The feeling bothered him a great deal; he didn't even know what it was.

"I'll watch over her to make sure she doesn't leave," the soothsayer went on in a soft whisper.

The peacock emperor glanced over at the kitten, who was blissfully chasing a house fly around the throne room. She chased it to the window, pouting as it squeezed through a crack in the window and flew off into the sky.

Shen sighed. The girl had willingly taken care of him when he was sick; perhaps even saving his life by playing nurse when the soothsayer was gone. She had tended to his infected wing and made him breakfast – with all his favorite foods. The soothsayer's foretelling echoed through his head,

_learn to show mercy, compassion..._

He grunted. "Fine." He looked over into his Nana's beaming face and the kitten's shocked and happy one. "Under a guard's watchful eye she can go outside."

xxxxxxxx

_Dao-ming_ forest was beautiful at this time of year, and so early in the morning. The sun not yet developing its golden afternoon glow was a gentle pastel orb in the sky. It beamed into the flowers, illuminating their beauty; sought out the creek with its rays and filled it with light as well. Dewdrops on petals twinkled from the sunlight. The air smelled of blossoms and plums.

The soothsayer smiled, treading through the grass and flowers with the kitten, remarking on the beauty of the scenery now and then. A guard trailed begrudgingly behind.

"I used to take Shen here when he was a chick," the elderly goat smiled fondly. "He loved hiding in the flowers while I looked around for him." She paused, watching as the girl blissfully pounced at butterflies and caterpillars. For a moment, she was seeing her chick; a mirror image of him – despite the species and gender – of what he used to be. Innocent and young; when he still held onto that blissful childhood even if he was sick and confined in bed.

"Nana, are you alright?"

The goat startled a bit from her thoughts, looking at the concerned kitten. Only now did she realize she had tears blurring her eyes. "Oh, I'm fine, dear. Just thinking." She looked over at some birds scratching in the soil. "Why don't you go chase the birds?"

And off she went. Growling and giggling; butt and tail wiggling as she got ready to do a typical kitten pounce into the flowers.

Shen watched on from the steps of the temple. He was utterly baffled. How could a warrior of Shifu be so childish? How could she still have pertained so much of her innocence, be so happy? ...How could anyone stay this happy? Better yet, how could a prisoner being held hostage _miles and weeks_ away from her family and home not be _scared?_

At this age, Shen had been everything this child wasn't. Starting to see his limitations, see just how different he was, and feeling so insignificant. This was when he started to turn dark, spent hours in Gongmen's basement lab as he experimented with explosives. And he was anything but happy.

He detested this bubbly girl; he was jealous of her; he wished he could know what it was like to be happy...

"Oh, darn," Kurisu sighed, plopping down into the grass and watching the birds scatter. "They flew away."

Yet, the soothsayer's words rang in his head despite how much he tried to repress them. A part of him wanted to storm off in rage, while another wanted to go to the kitten. More still, part of him wanted to relentlessly shake her and snarl in frustration why it was so _hard_ to make the infuriating child unhappy!

After a few minutes, he walked up to her. "Yes, the birds would fly away. They're birds," he said flatly.

"Shen!" Hey eyes sparked in excitement and Shen's eyes narrowed. "When did you get out here?"

"A while ago."

Her butt wiggled. "Do you want to play with me?"

The peacock's wing slowly snaked up to his face as he peeked out through his feathers. Gradually, he slid it down his face and shook his head, trying to process the ridiculous question. "What."

"I said do you want to play with me?"

"...What is _wrong _with you?"

And her face turned serious. "We haven't figured that out yet."

The peacock shook his head. "I'm not even going to try and debate that." He tucked his wings into his sleeves and carried on through the flower beds.

The memories these flowers held; the voices calling out...

xxxxxxxx

_He was five again. Dao-ming was one of the most beautiful and popular of tourist spots, especially in the summer. The soothsayer had taken him there that day with promises that he'd finally meet some friends since most children wouldn't be from Gongmen,_

_He had found a group of children; the soothsayer was right, they weren't from Gongmen. One was a tiny female goral, and one was a jaguar cub. None the less, they seemed to know who he was and that he was 'a bad color.' They shunned him and backed away in fear, whispering 'bad omen' as they ran off._

_He hadn't cried when he returned to his Nana, defeated. To cry over something that happened all the time was just useless. She tried to make the afternoon fun for him, chasing and seeking him in the flowers. Then she'd pull him into her lap, pull up his tunic and tickle him when she found him. Shen had laughed, of course...but inside he was crying._

_xxxxxxxx  
><em>

How he had longed for the day where he could find a few friends. Sure, he loved playing with his nanny, but if just for _once-_

"OW!" He felt a rough tug from behind.

Shen didn't even have to turn around to know what had happened. Ohhh no, she hadn't. She wouldn't _dare._He turned his head.

Yep.

She had pounced on his tail.

That insubordinate little brat – was she just _asking _to die? It seemed that way. Though to the kitten it was really just instincts: 'oh-my-god-something-moving-and-colorful-and-FLUFFY-OHMYGOD – MINE!'

Kurisu crouched there, batting at and tugging on one of his long tail feathers, watching in excitement as it swayed – in irritation – in front of her eyes.

The peacock swerved his tail to one side with as much force as he could muster, and collided it back into the startled kitten, surely knocking her back several feet.

_SPLASH!_

Or perhaps a bit more.

Shen smirked; it didn't take an IQ of 100 – not that he didn't _have _one – to know he had knocked the child into the waterfall. That should keep her in her place! He turned to her, expecting to see her glaring at him or perhaps hissing. Of course that wasn't what greeted his sight..

Looking like a drowned rat with a flap of fur hanging into her eyes, she merely grinned. "That was so cool! Do it again!"

Twitch. Twitch. Was she _kidding_ him? She had to be! He had just shoved her into a freezing waterfall, and she was still smiling?

He lost it, storming up to her in feather bristling rage, yanking her out of the water by her tail and roughly slamming her on the ground.

"_Why_ are you so happy?" he snarled, beak curling back in fury. "Why on earth are you always happy? You're miles from home, you're my _prisoner_ - _my_ - " he emphasized the 'my' - "_prisoner!_ You're in an unfamiliar territory and with someone that could chop off that head of yours and I'm still surprised I haven't yet – and I just shoved you into the water! So _why.._" a frustrated snarl shuddered up his vocal chords. "Are you always so HAPPY?"

The kitten looked up at him, an unreadable expression on her face. She pursed her lips and dangled her feet into the water.

"I'm not _always_ happy," she told him tersely. "But...what's life going to be like if you live it always being sad?"

Shen only stood there in silence. For some reason, that question hurt him in a way he could rarely be hurt.

_What's life going to be like if you live it always being sad?_ What would life be like living it happy? He never knew and he'd never know. Sadness and pain was all that greeted him in his life. Why would that brat taunt him with something he knew he couldn't ever have?

Liquid anger threatened his eyes for a moment. He forced it back instantly and turned back to the temple. "_Get inside. And get back to your cell._" He wasn't having her free today – not after what she just said.

The child didn't dare object.

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_(That kitten really needs to learn to stop pushing his buttons)_


	5. Chapter 5

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 4 - Emotions<em>

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><em>

The wind howled viciously. Looming white clouds engulfed the air; razor sharp sand sized snow tore through the atmosphere and pelted the mountains below.

"Hurry, Po!" Shifu called frantically out into the blinding snow. Not a shape of the bear could be seen, but Shifu still heard his student's panting and whines of 'oh, the snow! It's in my EYEEEE!'

"You're getting cut to ribbons by the wind!"

"Oh, you think?" came his student's voice a bit closer. "OW! The snow is in my EYE!"

Face palm.

Hurriedly, the panda scrambled – whining as he did – into the cave. He fell onto his stomach just short from Shifu's feet, and the red panda quickly grabbed a medicine bottle to tend to the hundreds of tiny little slits on the panda's shoulders and back.

"Master Shifu, this storm has not let up for days," Tigress said quietly, huddled under her tarp. "We still have far to go, and the mountain is only halfway to Gongmen. What if the storm does not let up soon?"

Shifu hesitated. "...No storm can last forever, Tigress. It will be done shortly, I'm..I'm hoping." He glanced over at Po, who was tearfully cramming almond cookies in his mouth, while trying to hide his wet tear and almond stained face in his own tarp.

"Oh, Po.." he sighed, a paw sympathetically at his chest, though it could not be seen from under the tarp. "Yes, I know you're worried, but we _will_ find her." His voice held an undying determination. _Nobody _kidnapped his kids, and if they did, they wouldn't live to steal another one.

"But Master," the panda pitifully sniffled. "What if we're too late? What if he's already done stuff to her?" His voice became higher and more twisted with pain. "What if he's already k-"

"Po, _enough_," Shifu pleaded. He closed his eyes. Yes, that was always a possibility and one he tried desperately to keep from racking his brain. "We'll get to her before that happens. I _promise._He won't hurt her."

And Shifu had no idea how right he was.

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It was early morning in _Dao-ming. _Shen had granted the child leave – outside – with a gorilla guard. He was listlessly watching the kitten picking wild flowers, smirking when an angry bee occasionally confronted the girl from behind the petals.

Again, his soothsayer futilely attempted. "Shen, why don't you...spend some time with the girl?" Her heart fell a bit when he rolled his eyes disdainfully.

"Like that will happen."

His nanny tried not to growl, but it was difficult. "Shen...listen to me for once!"

"Give me one good reason why I should!" he sneered.

She slammed her cane against the floor in a loud 'boom.' "You wouldn't dare talk to me like that when you were a chick!"

He got right in her face, beak curled back in a snarl. "In case you haven't noticed, _Soothsayer,_" He gave extra emphasis on 'soothsayer', trying to drill it into her that she was no longer his nanny and no longer carried any authority on him. "I am NOT that pathetic and clingy chick anymore!"

"When you were a chick at least you showed compassion!" she cried.

"Oh, please," Shen snorted. "Compassion is weakness. Love is weakness. All you're trying to do is revert me back to the weak little chick I once was! Well, never again!" he snarled bitterly. "I see what you're trying to do!"

"The 'weak' little chick I used to love is better than the beast I see before me now!" she snarled.

You could hear the sound of a proverbial pin hitting the floor. Nothing but the wind outside and the water basin dripping. Shen absorbed his nanny's words in shock. At this point, a confused Kurisu had heard the yelling and tentatively stepped in with a just as concerned guard.

"Shen," the soothsayer began, biting her lip. The undeniable hurt flickered across the peacock's face. He had tried to hide it much too late, and the pain was too strong to cover. The soothsayer's words were too strong to take back as well.

"_Shen,_" the goat desperately pleaded. "I didn't mean it that way!"

He was breathing funny; the kind of gasping ragged breaths he took when the soothsayer had informed him in the factory that his parents had loved him and died from grief of banishing him.

"...As if I care about your love." The voice betrayed every emotion he felt – every emotion in his eyes. His voice was as low as it could go. "L-love only gets in the way and shows weakness. It is a downfall and you c-can't gain anything from.." He couldn't finish his sentence.

"Shen, I do love you! I do!" his Nana pleaded, gripping her cane tightly and stepping towards him. "That – it came out wrong! You know I _always_-"

"_Your love is of no significance to me!_" he screamed hatefully. His voice was broken; his feathers back in rage and pain. He fled without another word.

"Sh-!" The door slammed, and with such ferocity it shook the entire temple. The soothsayer hopped back as a small ceiling tile fell, while the kitten had flattened herself against the wall to avoid being crushed by one herself.

Shen stormed out into _Dao-ming_ forest, searching for a place where he could go for solitude, silence, and a place to clear his mind.

The waterfall. Okay, so it wasn't silent, but it was the best place to go to think...for some reason. Shen could remember coming here as a child, and the times he fought with his nanny – no, soothsayer – he'd come here for solitude and a clear head. He remembered the first time – _no._

He had to stop thinking of the past – of his childhood, and of his nanny - _NO._The soothsayer. She wasn't his nanny – she said she didn't love him, and he told himself he didn't care if she did or not.

But his heart betrayed every emotion he tried to show in that thought.

The peacock shook his head and tucked his face into his wing, from the blinding sunlight. He closed his eyes sadly and let time escape him.

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Shen slowly opened his eyes. He expected to be greeted with a black night and cool evening air. Perhaps he'd hear the distant sound of the kitten and the soothsayer excitedly chattering like girls do – as they went about eagerly preparing dinner; hear them call him in for dinner in annoyance that he was late.

Instead, the air was misty and the sky was bright. There was the soft sound of water trickling down a stone fountain; very unlike the pulsing rush of the waterfall. No, he wasn't in _Dao-ming._ Where _was _he?

"You're at the Plains Of Enlightenment, my boy," came a sagely chortle from across the plains. A small silhouette slowly came into view, doddering in his thousand year old shell, smiling that same beatific smile that he always wore in life.

Slowly, Shen backed away with thinly disguised concern as the terrapin approached him. "I'm where?"

Oogway came and stood beside him. "The place of repentance." He glanced over at the avian. "That is if one _wishes_ to repentant for his sins." His soft jade eyes bored into the peacock. "If one will take the leap and ascend to a much higher plain; to leave their hate behind in the darkness they wish to abandon."

"Speak English, old man!" the peacock snapped with such blatant disrespect that if the soothsayer was here, she'd probably twist his head feathers right off. "What are you trying to say?"

Not the least perturbed by Shen's sharp tongue, the tortoise only shut his eyes and smiled. "I don't know. What am I trying to say?"

Shen ran a wing down his face. "Place of 'repentance'," He mocked rudely. "Right. I never said I wished to _repentant._"

"You never said it, but you wish it," Oogway responded serenely. He grinned when he saw the peacock's feathers flatten back.

Shen got ready to snap at him, but the tortoise's answer caught him off guard, and he found that he didn't know how to really respond to that. "...Right. Because I deserve a second chance," he scoffed bitterly. "And I never said I wanted it either."

Oogway ignored his last remark. He placed his gnarled claws gently on his staff. "There is no such thing as an unforgivable crime if the sinner is truly remorseful for what he has done." He waved his hand gently: a signal for the bird to follow him.

Shen tucked his wings into his sleeves. He didn't deserve to be here, and he knew it. He almost felt the need to lower his head into his robe, as if he could escape the spirit's prying eyes from beyond the shrouding mist and to the gates of the heavens.

_My parents.._

Shen shut his eyes. Were they watching him? Oh, why should he care? They hated him, after all...

"Do they really, child?" Oogway's tone held a hint of amusement, but above all somber and concern. "Why must you assume such things? Did they really say that?"

"They didn't have to say it!" Shen nearly screamed at him. "I know it!"

The terrapin turned back to study him; he was seething, even his tail feathers lifting slightly in rage. But despite this, the old master's mouth only creased with worry and sadness; he could feel the pain radiating off this troubled peacock's heart. He was probably the only one that ever noticed the slight dew in the corner of Shen's eyes. Anyone else would probably simply be focusing on that hateful glare – not to mention his blades now sheathed.

Oogway stepped forth quietly, said nothing, and knocked Shen's knives from his hand with his staff.

Shen stayed in the same flared position, but his eyes darted over slightly to where his blades were now scattered. He looked back at the tortoise and growled in hate.

Oogway shook his head sadly, lips slightly pursed.

"Your 'evil' comes from your anger. It comes from your pain." He picked up one of the bird's blades and thoughtfully twirled it in his fingertips. "Everything you are right now comes from the years of agony that you have repressed."

Shen didn't respond.

"Tears are not a shameful thing, Shen." When the tortoise spoke again, his voice was soft and kind; his smile welcoming and compassionate. "I don't know what gave you the impression that they are. Mourning is what cleanses the soul; tears cleanse the mind."

"Tears are useless," the bitter peacock retorted. "They do nothing. I'll tell you what I told that stupid cat – all it does is cause further unhappiness. Crying doesn't make things magically better. It only reminds you that...that things won't ever be okay."

"And repressing them makes a heart as black as the darkest of nights," Oogway responded, not taking his eyes off the distressed bird. "And you're a fine example of that figurative language, wouldn't you say, Shen?"

He opened his mouth to snarl a response, but again found himself at a loss for words, feathers falling back. What was wrong with him today?

The tortoise smiled once more. "My boy," he began, turning and gesturing around him. "There is so much for you to live for on this earth if you would only realize it! Why must you have your heart set on the one thing that will simply condemn your life to disaster? Why don't you look at what you have in front of you – what you have to love and be thankful for?"

"Which is?"

Instead of responding, the tortoise moved towards the small fountain. He barely rippled the water with the head of his staff, and an image appeared.

It was distorted at first, the water molecules gradually creating a still and calm picture in the surface of the water. The soothsayer and the kitten. They were there, making dinner – and what looked like to be one of his favorite dishes too.

"The ones that love you," Oogway spoke softly, smiling into his staff as he observed the two ladies.

Before Shen could speak or lean in to see what Kurisu and his nanny were saying, the image changed. Instantly, a pang hit him, and with such intensity that his knees buckled. The tortoise had to hold him up.

"M-Mama...Ba.." His throat went dry; his eyes stung. Fighting tears wasn't terribly unusual for him, but it was something he was usually so good at that he could simply blink and the wet and painful sensation would disappear. This time it wasn't possible to repress them.

_What the heck?_

"Mhmm.." Oogway hummed in acknowledgement, turning to the bird. "Seems it's finally having effect."

"What did you do to me?" Shen snarled, further tears threatening to fall. The rest barely being contained by his grey eyelids.

"I did nothing. You are in a place where emotions are set free."

Oh, lovely.

When he didn't speak, Oogway continued. "Only the ones that are truly prepared to make up for their sins make it to this plain."

"I don't deserve to be forgiven," Shen said quietly.

"That's right," Oogway said simply. "You don't."

Nettled, the peacock snarled softly. "I thought you said that all sins are forgivable if the sinner is truly sorry!"

"Ah.." The tortoise's eyes twinkled mysteriously. "That I did, but true forgiveness cannot be achieved until the sinner learns to forgive _them self._ There is no greater grudge then what their own conscience holds against them."

Absolute silence was the response.

"So, can you forgive yourself?" Oogway urged gently.

"...How can I?" Now, the peacock's voice was broken and brimming with pain. His head was turned, his wings folded against his chest. His body shaking.

"If you let yourself, you can. If you let the light in your life guide you to the path of redeeming light, you can." It was obvious who the 'light' in his life were.

He was about to respond to the tortoise, but discovered, stunned, that he was in his bedroom. He was still shaking – unsure if it was from sadness or rage. Tears still brimmed, and he fought to repress them. He couldn't. Did the Plains Of Enlightenment's influence really carry this far?

He lost it – whatever ounce of sanity that remained – in a choked snarl. Gasping, panting, he tore blade after blade from his robe, not even making sure it didn't rip the fabric. He threw them with such force that he felt the muscles in his wing nearly tear; the blades bounced off and stuck into the wall; the wallpaper fell in heaps.

The screams of anguish and rage were locked in his throat and released in sharp heavy breaths. Knife after knife massacred the ageing walls, ripped through his blankets and where ever else the blades bit into.

Finally, he lost his balance and stumbled face first into his nest. Soft ragged breaths sounded from his throat; his cheeks and blankets instantly became drenched. It took him a while to realize that the sounds and salty water were coming from him.

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The soothsayer was ready to extinguish the final candle that night. The girl was already back in her cell, curled up on a small mat and under a few worn quilts Shen was kind enough to spare.

"Good night, dear," the old goat whispered affectionately as she put out the final candle closest to the kitten's cell.

"Night, Nana," came Kurisu's voice, slurred and sleepy as her head dropped onto her mat. Just as quickly, it shot back up and she looked at the goat. "Where's Shen? Is he okay? I saw he slammed the door this morning, but I never saw him after that."

The old goat closed her eyes. For all she knew, the peacock was probably still somewhere in the forest. She had been with the girl in the flowers most of the day, and hadn't seen him come in. He hadn't even come out for dinner and she decided not to bother him – not that he'd want to see her anyways.

"I'm not sure, dear. I don't know where he is." She hoped the child wouldn't pressure her to answer the 'is he okay?' question, but she didn't.

Kurisu sighed, clutched her blankets close, and let her head drop again. Almost immediately, she was out like a light.

The soothsayer made her way back to her bedroom, barely burning candle in hand, worry heavy in her eyes. She kicked off her slippers and sleeping robe, and was about to climb into bed-

- someone cried.

It wasn't the kitten. The soothsayer had heard her cry before – one time when she had spoken out of line and Shen had smacked her with the switch and yelled at her – and her cries were a higher pitch and she hiccuped. This cry was lower and shaky. The voice was hoarse. She knew who it belonged to.

She stepped into his room and could only stare.

Shen was crying. He was _crying._ Shen did not cry. He never allowed a tear to leave his eye – not in years. When he got upset, he destroyed things and yelled and snarled. But he didn't cry. To cry was weakness to him. It only showed your vulnerability and caused your enemy to strike you when your guard was down.

Yet, here he was...

As he cried, he was not loud. In fact, his sobs weren't even audible, but you could tell by the way they silently racked his body that they were there. He shook in grief, tears cascading down his cheeks in rapid succession. He made no sound, and he didn't lift his head.

The old goat's hoofed hand came up and clutched at her chest; like she figured she'd be able to grab her heart through the layers of her many robes and pull out the pain embedded in it at seeing her baby like this.

"Oh, _Shen..._" she breathed out, mouth creasing and eyes brimming. How long had he been like this? She crawled towards the nest. She held up a hoof to defend herself when the peacock effortlessly threw a talon full of hay at her. When that failed and she climbed up on the nest, he kicked at her – so distraught that he didn't even kick an inch near her. The soothsayer knew he was terrified of being seen like this, but her chick needed her.

She climbed deeper into the nest, crawling through the straw and broken knives, and reached him. He was curled up; his head was down, and his wings were closed around him.

The soothsayer didn't give him a chance to protest or pull away as she strode forward and wrapped her arms around her chick. He was limp against her, not even tensing. Lovingly, she rubbed her baby's back, and quickly his sobs became somewhat audible, and he increased in tremors. The goat wished so badly that – if just for one night – he was a little chick again, one that she could scoop up to fit in her arms and cradle.

""Nana..."

"Shhh..." the soothsayer cooed gently. "Nana's got you, and I'm not ever leaving you." It sounded like she was talking to a toddler, but to her that wasn't a far cry from reality. And of course like any loving surrogate mother, she just wanted to be there for her adopted child.

Quivering, the peacock leaned into her. By now, he was silent – or at least trying to be. His face was buried deep into her layered robes, but his body still trembled violently. He said nothing and didn't open his eyes when he felt the goat's soft lips kiss his forehead. He didn't even really tense either, surrendering himself to the elderly goat's loving caresses and touches. He was still in her arms. His eyes were closed in mute grief.

The soothsayer reached a hoof towards the small basin near his nest, and wrung out a damp cloth. She wiped his face with the cloth and felt him tense as she did so, but she continued it anyways. However, when she tried to somewhat pull the distraught peacock into her lap, she almost chuckled when he gave a chagrined growl,

"Don't push it, Nana." Uh-huh, he was starting to go back to normal already.

The bed shifted. From in the dark, a small little form was recognizable. And she was unmistakable with those turquoise eyes shinning and brimming with worried tears. She had enough sense not to interrupt the mother and child embrace, but she still crawled up halfway between the two, laying on her stomach; fuzzy blue ears back.

Shen barely lifted his head to look at her; he could feel her long fluffy tail blanketing securely around his legs, and saw her teary little eyes peek up at him sadly from the dark.

And the recent memories went through Shen's head: the white and blue heart in the smoke. (Only now did it truly dawn on Shen that the colors represented him and the child) He thought of Oogway's words and his Nana's prediction. He didn't say anything to her.

But no more words needed to be exchanged that night.

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_(Ah...long chapter is long. XD_

_First off, I want to give credit to an rp done with my dear friend Gianna, which is what the fight with Shen and the Soothsayer was based off. The rest is all me. _

_I've been waiting so long to write this chapter XD)_


	6. Chapter 6

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 5 – The Darkness Of Shadow Puppets<em>

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><em>

Badump. Badump. Badump went Nana's heart. Shen's cheek and ear was pressed up against the old goat's chest and he'd been listening to his nanny's heart all night. It was soothing; it sounded like gentle ocean waves, soft and comforting. A gentle version of _Dao-ming's_ waterfall. The elderly goat smelled sweet like the plum blossoms outside. Her hoof had been making gentle circles on his stomach all night.

He twitched a bit under the touch. It was calming, but it tickled.

When he finally decided to open his eyes, they met Nana's sand colored ones, gentle and smiling.

"How are you feeling now, dear one?"

He rolled over in the hay – well, he rolled from the waist up; he couldn't roll all the way because he only now realized Kurisu was draped over his knees. He rubbed at his eyes with his wings and tried to process her question. How _did _he feel? Sore and achy; his eyes were puffy and burning, and his heart was as light as a feather.

He could actually see things clearly now, and he felt them clearly too. The years of emotionally agonizing stones crushing his heart were beginning to slowly lift, as if hands were carefully prying them from the places of his heart they use to be burrowed in.

"I feel...odd," the peacock responded, not sure how to explain his feelings to the elderly goat.

"It feels odd to you because you don't remember what it's like to not feel pain," the soothsayer said softly, brushing back her chick's feathers.

Shen sighed as he let her sagely response set in. No indeed, he could scarcely remember the joys of happiness. It dawned on him that although as a chick he had some fun days – he wasn't ever truly happy; he'd been bedridden, rejected, neglected – not from Nana of course – and it only got worse when he was older. And of course, as if happiness could be achieved by being banished and kicked out of your home.

"...I suppose so," he finally mumbled. Part of him didn't want to get up, but stay in bed with Nana there smoothing his feathers. It was so comforting. Of course, he was still too proud to admit he needed comfort and wanted her presence. He was mildly upset when she climbed out of bed.

"You and the child still look worn out," the soothsayer said, ignoring the fact that her eyes were the reddest: kept up all night with her baby, and smoothing his feathers long after he fell asleep. "I'll make us all some breakfast. You two lie back down." She tussled his feathers and quietly trotted out.

The peacock sunk deeper into the straw like bed, pulling the blankets up further. Okay, so he had the blankets to himself, even if he didn't have his legs to himself. He shot a glower down at the blue fluffy tail still wrapped firmly around them as she slept.

"Hey, kitten," he called, trying to tug his legs free. "Kitten, get off!"

The child subconsciously rolled onto her back, her legs kicking as she dreamed. Her ears and paws twitched now and then and she smiled, dreaming of home.

"_Kitten!_" Shen hissed. "Get off!" He nudged his leg a bit more fiercely, and the kitten obediently rolled off his legs – and onto the floor with a comical 'thump.'

Shen blinked, nervously peering off the side of his nest. "That...isn't really what I meant...but that works too." He laid his head back down and was out evenbefore Nana came back with breakfast.

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The trio slept later than usual, but they were all exhausted from the night's events. The soothsayer noticed the girl coughing a bit, so she sent her back to bed, convinced the girl had caught Shen's illness – but a very minor version of it.

"I don't like this.." the goat muttered to Shen as she prepared some vegetable soup. Now and then she glanced at the shivering and coughing child.

"So she has a cold," Shen shrugged. "Because I never got worse? She'll be fine, Nana, don't worry too much." He lit the stove, hoping to bring some warmth in the cool cell.

"I know _that_," the soothsayer sighed. "But if she's sick she shouldn't be in that cell. Can't I give her her own room?"

Surprisingly, the peacock didn't refuse instantly. He glanced over at the kitten, expression altering slightly every few seconds. "Hm. Fine. Go ahead and give the girl a room; there's a small one further down the hall, and the windows are open so it should be warm."

The soothsayer's chest swelled with pride for the small little display of kindness her chick was finally showing. She couldn't keep from beaming as she hurriedly opened the cell – she didn't have to unlock it, Shen never locked it anymore and the girl could leave it when she wanted to.

"Come along dear," the soothsayer gently coaxed her sleepy child as she pulled the dirty quilt off her. "We're getting you your own room and away from this awful box." She frowned when she noticed the filthy blanket was full of small holes. Right, that would keep her warm.

"What now?" Shen growled as his nanny glared accusingly at him. "That was the last of the blankets – you realize how long these blankets have been at this temple? They aren't going to be in mint condition!"

"Exactly." His Nana tapped her cane on the tiles. "The girl needs new blankets."

"We don't have any."

"Let me go into the city and buy some; we need some more food anyways if we don't want to starve." She sighed and tenderly smoothed the feathers on his wing. "Please?"

Shen rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep his stubborn feathers from falling back in bliss at her feather rubbing hoof. "Ugh. Fine. But only because we need more food and that's it," Shen said quickly. I don't care if the brat has new blankets or not."

His nanny smiled. "Of course..."

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"Where should we go first?" the soothsayer questioned, eying the nearly forgotten city with an emotional smile. It had been forever since she could freely roam Gongmen City.

She had taken the child with her at Shen's claim 'fresh air is good for a stuffy nose, especially if it's as clear and warm as the air today.' He had said it so casually and offhandedly, but the soothsayer knew the peacock was horrified at the thought of being left alone with the teenaged girl – let alone sick as well. She was kind enough not to say anything and only agreed. The girl had been more than excited to go see the city.

"I never even had a chance to see the city," Kurisu told the soothsayer, sitting on a rafter with her and kicking her legs. "Shen and his men took me back behind and through the forest way to get to _Dao-ming._"

"Mm.." the old goat hummed in acknowledgement. "That was the best judgement. You see – well, you know about what Shen did, and I'm sure you understand that the city thinks he's dead and wants him dead."

"But he's changed," the kitten whispered sadly.

The soothsayer only smiled and held her head up. She was glad she wasn't the only one noticing the very slow but evident change in the peacock. "They don't know that, dear."

Kurisu grinned, her eyes shining with hope, and the soothsayer knew what the girl was about to say before she even said it. "...Yet."

The elderly goat pursed her lips and climbed off the rafter. She stood firmly in front of her child and took the kitten's paws in her hooves. "Listen to me dear, and listen closely." She leaned in. "You _cannot_ tell anyone that Shen is still alive – and more, living just outside of the city. You cannot hint it, you can not insinuate it -_nothing._"

The girl blinked in confusion and nodded.

"But why? How can we try and clear his name if we don't-"

"_Don't_." And the soothsayer said it so fiercely that the girl hopped back a bit. "You can't, child. Clearing his name – telling the people that he's alive, you could put his life in very grave danger, and ours as well. A mob could show up at the temple door to kill him. Do you understand me?" she demanded.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, the kitten nodded, ears back. "I just want to help him.."

The loving smile returned to the elderly goat's face. She bent the child's head forward and kissed it.

"I know, darling, I know.." She sighed and pulled the kitten off the rafter. "I do too, believe me. Promise me though that you won't breathe a word about Shen, and..." She sighed harshly, eyes closed but still glaring. "I know they'll be..._celebrating_ and likely talking terribly of him. You must promise me you will simply nod along.."

The girl's eyes brimmed. "I have to act like I agree and act like I'd be happy if he was dead?"

"Yes," she responded tightly.

Immediately, the girl turned around on the wall. "I'm going home then."

The soothsayer caught her by her tail before she even let one foot leave the wall.

"No, no, you're not. There's no need to," she smiled. "You and I are going to enjoy the city today, and we're going to make Shen jealous that he didn't come."

"But...he can't come," Kurisu pointed out.

The goat smirked.

"Exactly."

The kitten giggled.

The soothsayer kept a firm grip on the kitten's paw as she would a small child, like Shen when he was a chick. It was the girl's first real breath of freedom, not under an annoyed guard's eye or Shen's; not that she thought she wasn't treated well for a former homicidal peacock warlord as her warden.

"Try to stay close, dear; I know it seems silly since you're old enough to wander freely on your own, but if you get lost you won't know how to get back. And-" she tugged the girl back- "don't run now, you'll start coughing. We're lucky you don't have a fever from this cold." She chuckled at the kitten's eagerness. "The city won't disappear now, you have plenty of time."

"Wow..." the kitten breathed out. Gongmen was huge, so much bigger than The Valley Of Peace! Structures were made differently too; there were a lot of sheep, and she was used to seeing plenty of bunnies and pigs. Of course, there were a lot of those too.

"So where should we go first?" she grinned, turning to the goat. Her eyes were alight and bright with childish excitement.

"Wherever you want, dear," the soothsayer honestly responded. "It's your day, but I feel we should start with the bed clothes and the groceries. Oh and perhaps-"

The kitten was already at a sweet vendors.

The soothsayer rolled her eyes, but allowed a smile as she came up to the vendors. "Oh, Li!" Her eyes sparkled and Kurisu couldn't remember having seen her so happy before. "Li, it's been so long!"

An elderly pig grinned at her and chuckled fondly.

"Ah, the honored soothsayer! Min Yun, it _has _been so long, how are you?" He exchanged a welcoming hug with the soothsayer, who graciously returned it.

"It has indeed," the goat responded, fondly tugging the pig's ear. "And it seems you've switched professions." She chuckled. "Didn't you used to work at the tailor's long ago?"

The pig sniggered. "I got a hankering for a sweet tooth, so I thought I'd try a bakery vendors." They laughed. "And who is this?" He came up to the kitten, examining her and even tugging the girl's bushy tail. "'Nannyin' another kid, huh?"

"I'm not a kid," Kurisu tried not to huff. Her tail flicked in annoyance as it was tugged at. "I'm sixteen." She forced a curt "it's nice to meet you, Sir Li."

"Back at ya," the pig chuckled. He sensed the girl's disdain and didn't push further. "So, Min...I'm sorry about your boy."

The soothsayer stiffened, as did Kurisu. They exchanged a glance, but the soothsayer recited her line she had practiced in her head the whole way down.

"He went the way he went; I take no account for his sins, only mine." She ignored Kurisu's confused look.

"Yeah.." The pig sighed and leaned against his cart. "Still, he was a good kid. _Was,_" he softly emphasized. "I wish he could have changed and redeemed himself at the end, ya know?"

The soothsayer's eyes carried a mischievous glint that only Kurisu could see. She smirked when the pig turned away.

_Unbeknownst to you, Li, he's doing that now._ When he turned back to her, she merely nodded.

"He was a good child and I wish he would have tried to change." She sighed, a very convincing mama-disappointed-sigh. "But he held on to his hatred and anger until the bitter end." She ignored the murderous glare from Kurisu and gave her a light kick to the shin to hurriedly wipe it off.

"Still.." Li looked confused when the kitten's face contorted in agony, but thought nothing of it. "I know how much you loved him. I mean, you raised him."

"I did not raise him to become what he did," the goat responded soberly. "I love what he _was._" Okay, Kurisu was really going to give them away now. Hurriedly, she said her good-byes to Li and let the kitten tug her away.

"How could you!" Kurisu cried. "That stupid pig was talking awful of Shen and you just fed the fire!" She had her back turned to the goat, hot tears stinging her eyes. "I thought you said we were just to nod along with whatever atrocities they speak about him!"

The soothsayer pursed her lips and turned the child around.

"Yes, we are.. If we don't encourage the conversation however, they will be suspicious. We cannot allow them to grow suspicious and you are _not _to glare when I say those things," she said sternly. "One false move and it could mean Shen's life."

Kurisu wiped her eyes. "But they know you raised him, so wouldn't they understand if you got mad and reprimanded them, or didn't agree?"

"No, to them they think that the crimes he committed were too terrible and unspeakable for me to want to love him anymore. Clearly they have never been parents." She took her child's paw. "Now let's go to – no, no, wipe those tears, dear. Today is supposed to be a happy day." She wiped the kitten's eyes.

"It doesn't feel happy," Kurisu sighed. She let the soothsayer tousle her fur.

"It will be, dear. Now give it a chance. You will really love the city if you put this..." She hesitated. "Shen stuff aside.. Oh look!" She tugged the kitten's sleeve and pointed towards a cart. "Another food vendors. Oh, it looks like they have some delicious peach cordial too!" She pressed a few coins into the girl's paw. "Go get yourself some treats while I buy a few groceries."

The kitten sighed and simply toyed with the _yuan_ in her paw for a few minutes. The scent of buns and tarts were absolutely mouth watering, yes, but if it meant she had to feign the fact she was happy Shen was 'dead' and nod and smile along – worse yet, encourage the insults and blasphemies spoken upon him, then she'd pass.

"Hey, little miss!" the sheep vendor called. She groaned loudly. "Why don't you come over here and take a look at my buns?"

"_What?_" the teen spluttered, her ice blue face taking on several shades of dark red.

"Oh – oh, no!" The sheep covered his mouth with a hoof, flushing just as fiercely. "I have some sweets – I've got the goods - " No, there really was no way to say that. "Ugh. Just come here and buy something, would ya?"

More than happy to get away from the taunting snickers and points, Kurisu rushed over with her ears down and her tail between her legs. She couldn't bring herself to look the vendor in the eye, and it seemed the same with him.

"So sorry about that," the ram profusely apologized, hurriedly bagging a few steaming tarts into a silky bag. "Here; it's on the house. Uhhh..think of it as an 'I'm so sorry' gift, truly."

Kurisu peered into the bag, Sago tarts: Shen's favorite. "Thank you, I love these," she said calmly, excited to give the sweets to the peacock. "They're my favorite." They weren't, but she hoped she could steer the conversation away, as it was inevitable the topic would turn to Shen. She only sealed it though.

"Ah, yours too, huh? The infamous Lord Shen loved them. He used to just chow down on them when he was a chick and the soothsayer brought him here almost everyday. Matter a fact when I knew he was coming I had to stock right up on these tarts because he ate so much!"

The kitten nodded quietly, chewing on a bun. Okay, this wasn't so bad. So, they _were _talking about Shen, but not in such a malicious way, just about what he loved to eat. She could deal with this.

"-For his sake, I hope there's sago tarts where _he_ went when he died," the ram snickered. _That did it._

The soothsayer reached them just in time to firmly grab the kitten's fist, luckily before it came into sight of the ram. She pinned it firmly to the girl's side and lead her off behind a small alley.

"That – I outta! And I'm gonna-! And – Ouuuu!" The teen went on with her marvelous tantrum, hissing, scratching at the wall, thumping her tail in fury; tears of anger filled her eyes, colorful language coming from her.

Finally, the soothsayer put an end to the fit as she grabbed an ear, twisting it.

"That is enough!" she hissed into the girl's ear. "You need to calm down, Kurisu, right now!" She sighed as the kitten gave way in her fit and collapsed coughing. She reached a hoof down to her child's forehead and gave an exasperated sigh. "A fever. Wonderful. Alright, we're going to get your bedsheets and then you're going home and you're going to bed," she said sternly.

"I want to see Shen," the girl sniffled.

The goat had to smile gently at that, leading her child out of the alley. "Yes, dear, we're going home soon." She chuckled. "But the main thing we came here for is your bed sheets! Now, let's go pick out a pretty pattern for your new bedroom." She smoothed her fur again. "Alright?"

Sniffling, the girl nodded. She was shaking, and it didn't take a close look to see that. They needed to get this errand done quickly; the poor child was completely frazzled and the soothsayer worried that she would come and and defend Shen – earning them all the death penalty.

"Min Yun!" another old friend: a fabric vendor greeted warmly as the goat and the kitten, barely containing her tears stepped forward. "Here for some fabrics you can eat?" The goat was annoyed, but relieved when that brought a smile to the kitten's face.

"I'm here buying some bedsheets for my kitten, Lien," the soothsayer told her. For some reason, being called 'her kitten' made the kitten feel warm and loved: her possession.

"You like lilies, kitty?" the rabbit asked her. She was smiling a friendly motherly smile as she guided the girl over to her cart. "These are pink with lilies, and they're perfect for a girl's bedroom." She held out the roll to her, letting the girl touch the beautiful fabric. "Isn't it pretty?"

"I guess so," Kurisu sniffled. She gave a quivering smile and ran her paw over the beautiful lily patterns.

"Or we have red. That was always Lord Shen's fav-" And the rabbit didn't have a chance to finish her sentence which probably may not have ended in scorn to the albino peacock, but maybe something nice, but neither her or the soothsayer would ever know. The old goat knew the child was at her limits; she had been quick to stop her fist before, but she wasn't quick enough to grab the girl before she grabbed a bagful of oranges and hurled it into the woman's face.

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Kurisu trudged silently after the soothsayer, now and then coughing and clutching her new blanket close. Her eyes were shut tight, hating the goat's silence more than anything. After she had thrown the bag of oranges into the startled woman's face, the soothsayer had pulled her away immediately, apologizing profusely to the woman and explaining it was all just growing 'hormones.'

The girl felt _terrible._ She knew that was an awful thing to do, cruel and childish – thank goodness she didn't grab the bag of cordial instead. Still, she was at her breaking point. As a tot growing up, you needed to learn to control your emotions when someone spoke ill of someone you cared about from your other peers, but when it was _everywhere_ you turned and much worse names than 'meanie' or 'poo-poo head', or whatever else children could sum up – it got unbearable.

"Nana, are you mad?" she barely whispered.

The soothsayer turned her head, glare melting the moment they met those teary sorry blue eyes.

"..." She sighed, came forward, and kissed the child's cheek. "No, dear. I suppose it was my fault for expecting so much of you. I – I had no idea that it would be _that _bad," she breathed out.

Kurisu wanted to bawl.

"I'm sorry.." She blinked when she felt the soothsayer put her arms around her. Her embrace was warm and soft; she smelled fragrant and of herbs.

"I know you are, darling.." She wiped her tears, sighing when more came. Nearing the destination merchant's cart, the old goat spotted something she hoped would lift the girl's spirits.

"Dear, they're having shadow puppets!" She hoped this wasn't too kiddish for the kitten. Of course, Kurisu had exhibited anything but teenage behavior. "Want to go watch the show? We can leave right after." She grinned when the kitten visibly perked slightly.

"I remember watching those with my brother and my father." The girl smiled a bit and wiped the dew from her eyes. "The last one I saw was like ten years ago; they don't seem to do them much in the valley unless a festival is coming to town." She rubbed at her eyes and straightened her clothing as she and the soothsayer found a spot behind the group of children.

The shadow puppets started out in a beautiful little field. The paper sun pretended to shine down on the silhouette toys that doddered about on rice paper land painted green. Kurisu remembered when she was four and just living with Po and their father, and she remembered being scolded as she reached behind the curtain and yanked both the puppets and the puppeteers out with her toddler strength. She grinned.

It looked like a few of the puppets were piglets, the rest bunnies. They were all playing in the field and that – that's when the silhouette of a peacock came into view. Kurisu felt Nana's grip tighten on her shoulder and her own mouth was dry. The peacock carried a large canon and was firing it around the town; crumpled rice paper ball shadows sprung out of the homemade canon and at the buildings and the townspeople.

Mothers clutched their kids close, and some tugged them away as they glared at the theater. The rest of the mothers with children that insisted on staying held their kids and glanced apprehensively at the shadow puppets.

Further tears sprung to the kitten's eyes when she saw a silhouette of her brother come into view with the peacock.

"Po.." she sobbed. She felt the soothsayer put her arms around her and try to urgently coax her away from the scene, but she was frozen to the spot.

The shadows made jumbled movements and the peacock was wielding a sword. He tried stabbing it into the panda, but he sidestepped him. Next, a giant canon fell down and repetitively slammed onto the peacock; the rice paper crumbling and falling off stage.

Some children screamed and others covered their eyes, or their mothers did it. By the time all that remained of the shadow peacock was bits and pieces of rice paper everyone but one very horrified kitten and goat were gone.

Enraged, the director of the puppet show yanked the cruel and laughing puppeteer pigs away by their shirt collars, literally tossing them off stage. He gave an apologetic bow to Kurisu and the soothsayer and hurriedly packed up the theatre and the puppets – and what remained of Shen.

The soothsayer kept her arms around the kitten as she twisted back to cry into her robe. Her breathing came out ragged. "Let's go home, darling."

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They made their way quietly up the steps and through the main doors of the temple. Kurisu had her quilt pulled over her like a hood, tears already soaking the brand new fabric. Silently, soberly, the goat pulled open the great doors to the temple and they entered.

Shen was waiting there, his wings tucked into his sleeves in his usual masterly way. Shifu always did that too; maybe it was a master thing.

"How did it go? Did you get the kitten's bedsh-" and he was cut off, standing stiff and utterly _baffled _as the distraught kitten clung to his silk robes. His first instinct was to sheathe a blade from his feathers, but he was frozen. He shot the soothsayer a look.

"What's up with the kitty cat?" He tried and failed to hide the mild _ever so slight _tinge of genuine concern in his tone.

The soothsayer sighed. "The village was..._rejoicing_." The whole village," she corrected grimly.

The peacock stiffened even more, eyes cool and distant.

"Ah." He glanced down at the child still clinging heavily to his robes and sighed a bit. He tried to move backwards...and the girl seemed to go with him.

"What did you buy?" he tried, hoping to avert the kitten from the awkward hug, as he didn't seem to have the heart to push her off himself...for some reason.

"Bedding," she muffled into his robe. "Squished oranges..." She held up a bag of sago tarts. "A dessert, your favorite."

Tentatively, he took the bag with a curt nod of thanks and even a barely whispered strained out 'thank you.' He grimaced in disgust when Kurisu began coughing into his robes, shivering a bit, and sliding down to his feet. He hesitated and drew his wing back several times before placing it on her forehead to check her temperature. It was weird, he hadn't ever touched a child, let alone one as soft and fuzzy as this.

"She's sick," he told his Nana, who rolled her eyes at being told the obvious. "Get her to bed."

The soothsayer nodded, half picked up her disoriented kitten, and gently carried her off, lily quilt and all.

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_(I know it seems I'm ripping through this fic, but I want to for ONCE finish one of my fics! And hey, it's not the worse, eh? I may rush, but I'm thorough _  
><em>And poor Kurisu..I woulda lost it there too. At least Shen is beginning to show a hint of compassion, eh? XD And don't worry, she isn't seriously sick; it was really just an excuse to go out to the city and get the blankets. LOL)<em>


	7. Chapter 7

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 6 – Life And Stories<em>

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><em>

_"Hi," the fuzz ball said. He grinned, showing still developing fangs, and some missing in his young age, creating adorable spaces between his teeth. "Are you Gongmen's little prince? You're kinda puny."_

_The prince just stood there, shifting on his talons. He didn't know what to do. No one his age had ever talked to him before, unless it was to sneer the two sentences he hated the most, 'bad omen'; 'bad color. - then they'd run off. He backed up, head low._

_The wolf pup crawled closer, one ear adorably lopsided in confusion as he poked the albino chick in the face. "What'za matter? Can you not talk?" He gasped dramatically, a paw to his mouth as his tail went back in guilt. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn' know you couldn't talk yet.."_

_It took every ounce of willpower not to snap at the insubordinate little pup; Shen didn't want to ruin his chances to possibly have a friend. The child had been talking to him and standing in front of him for five minutes now, and he hadn't run away. It was a miracle._

_"No, I can talk..." The prince told him, still not lifting his head. "I'm just not used to other kids talkin' to me. They usually run away."_

_"Why?" the pup tilted his head. "'Cause'a your feet? Yeah, they look just as sharp as mine." He giggled. "But mine are sharper, and you peacooks are born that way."_

_Shen couldn't believe how – what was the word Nana used? - naive this child was. Naive and stupid. Did the wolf not realize he was a bad color – bad omen, and that's why he scared everyone off? Yet, the young prince had to stifle a giggle at 'peacooks.'_

_"No.." The chick stepped back a bit, head low and wings tucked in in shame. "It's 'cause I'm a bad color. I'm white, and I should be blue...or somethin' that isn't white."_

_The wolf pup snorted a bit, climbing up onto his back paws – something Shen soon learned he barely ever did; he loved using all fours – and he grabbed and wiggled a white feather._

_"I don't think you're a bad color," the pup smiled, plucking and twirling a tiny white feather. "White is a cool color; I like your feathers." He grinned, showing his teeth and teeth spaces again. "My name is Xun."_

_Tears flooded the prince's eyes as he let Xun's comment sink in: 'I like your feathers.' He grinned, realizing the day he'd been waiting for for ages had finally arrived. His first friend._

_"Ya don't have to tell me your name," Xun told him, plopping back on all four paws, "Prince Sheng Li." He bowed, tripping on his tail and falling on his face. Shen laughed, quickly learning that grace wasn't the pup's forte._

_"Wanna come meet my Nana?"_

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><em>

Little Xun. Oh, that puppy and him got into the biggest mischief little boys could possibly get into – all the time. Shen was a considerably well behaved child that obeyed Nana and his parents. Whatever mischief he and Xun did get into was never with him as master behind the plot. Typically, he just hated being called 'chicken' – and Shen realized in hilarious fondness that 'ugly chicken' was the kitten's name for him when she was mad. It was his stubborn pride that constantly ended up getting him in trouble with his parents or Nana. Usually Nana.

Oho, he remembered that one time:

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_That old merchant deserved what he got; he was always mean to him and Xun, and he knew Nana didn't like the way the old pig wrinkled his snout in contempt when he came near. Nana should have approved 'operation frog in mean pig's cart'._

_But of course she didn't. "Two wrongs don't make a right", she said. She did however approve his father's suggestion for a punishment. She didn't at first. Shen remembered the pig screaming and yelling at him and threatening to skin both him and Xun alive. He and the pup only smirked, pleased with their plot._

_"That vicious brat!" the pig had screamed. "He is going to pay for the damage done to my cart! And he is never to come near me again! Someone outta get a switch – or better yet, a whip – and beat the living daylights out of him!"_

_The soothsayer had stood, calmly biting on her tongue on the words she probably wanted to say, and clutching Shen's wing firmly._

_"Yes, sir, yes, sir – no, sir; I do not handle him that way." She had left, still with that motherly death grip on his wing as she swiftly took him back to the palace. Shen expected to be told to either go to his room; or the soothsayer would sit him down in front of her while she lectured him calmly; or else the rare instance where he'd be pulled up over her lap. But she had left the room, and returned holding something, which she gave to him._

_"I've discussed this with your father,'"she said, while pressing a small knife into the chick's wing. "And we both agree on this; what you did was absolutely unacceptable, Sheng Li, I'm sure you know that."_

_"You told Mr. Hu that you didn't handle me that way," the prince protested tearfully._

_"I said I would not beat you senseless and I won't – not ever." She tapped her cane on the floor. When he had started to cry and curl up miserably in front of her, she strode forward and hugged him tightly, holding back her own tears as she gently urged him to go out to the bamboo stalk so they could get this unpleasant business over with._

_The young prince made his way silently down the palace steps, deliberately trudging slowly to delay this miserable task as much as he could. He pouted and sighed, walking further down the steps and stopping before a long stalk of bamboo. He didn't think – a punishment for this? What they did was funny! Well, it seemed funny at first. Loading a merchant's cart – and one they hated, he was mean! - with armfuls of frogs. Well...they didn't count them escaping all throughout the city._

_He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and sniffled, reaching up to the stalk with a small knife and just about to let it bite into the flesh of the plant-_

_"Shen!" Xun stumbled over a few distant house rafters – obviously having just climbed over the fence that separated their properties. He bounded over – of course on all four paws._

_"What are you doing?"_

_"Gettin' a switch," the chick barely mumbled, feathers flattening in fury when the pup actually had the audacity to laugh. "What's so funny?" he shot back. "Like you didn't get in trouble too!"_

_Xun rocked back and forth on his paws. "I did. Mama and Baba screamed at me a lot and then threw me on my bed and slammed the door and kept me locked in my room allll day." He finished with a stupid grin._

_And yet he was happy. Shen couldn't remember having ever been screamed at by his nanny; she used a calm and quiet disappointed tone, or her stone cold silence; that was enough to bring him to tears of guilt. Rarely, he needed more than a scolding lecture, like today._

_"So what's a switch do?" Xun questioned, tentatively touching the bamboo stalk – now a chastisement instrument – as Shen clipped the bamboo._

_"You never been switched before?"_

_"No, have you?"_

_"No."_

_"I bet it bites your butt – comes alive and bites your butt with teeth!" Xun grinned. He laughed, then cried out in shock and pain as the chick swung the switch at him. "Ow!"_

_"Shut up!" Shen shouted angrily at the boy. Now, fearfully, he eyed the implement in his wing, as if expecting it to sprout eyes and a mouth with sharp teeth. "It doesn't bite your butt!"_

_"You've never had it!" Xun shot back. "How do you know it doesn't?"_

_"Because that would make it a monster," Shen said matter-a-factly, straightening up and crossing his wings. "And Nana said there's no such thing as monsters. Monsters don't exist; Nana knows every-"_

_"Shen." The soothsayer's voice: gentle and stern from where she stood at the top step._

_Now Xun's ears went back, sharing Shen's fear; he placed a paw sympathetically on the chick's back. "Good luck, Shen.. Will you be outside tomorrow?"_

_"No," Shen sighed, worriedly glancing at his angry Nana. "Nana, Mama, and Baba said I gotta stay inside all week now cause of what we did." Despite the fact that Shen loved the outdoors, he would welcome that additional punishment if it meant he'd be away from Xun for a while so he could stay out of mischief._

_"I gotta go." He gathered the switch under a wing – evidently glancing at it now and then to make sure it stayed 'dead' – and unhappily followed the soothsayer back into the palace._

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><em>

It was hilarious now that Shen looked back at the memory: the fact he and Xun were actually stupid enough to think a switch could come alive, (no, it couldn't, but _wow _did it ever pack a painful sting and turn a bottom pink fast!), and the crime that sentenced them to such a punishment was equally as funny.

What was with him today? Again thinking of the past and of Xun – his trusted once best friend that he had murdered in cold blood without a second's hesitation. Wasn't he the one that always hated to think about the past and only concentrated on the future?

But what was his future to be? The events of the past few days really had him thinking about that. His mind was still so fogged from that insane breakdown he took that he couldn't think straight. What _was_ he trying to accomplish here? What did holding the kitten for ransom accomplish? He wanted the warriors to come and wanted the relics, but for what? So he could melt them into canons, and just be stopped and nearly killed by that stupid panda again? He thought he _knew _this...

But he really didn't.

The peacock shook his head and quietly made his way out to breakfast. He really needed something else to focus on right now and the scent of breakfast egg rolls and tea was definitely a good candidate.

"Morning, dear," the soothsayer greeted gently, cupping her hooves around his face briefly, before walking past and to the stove. She had become so much more...'nana-ly' since his breakdown; it was a bit annoying, all the while comforting.

"Morning," Shen greeted nonchalantly. "Where's the kitty?" He looked around, confused that he didn't see Kurisu at the table gobbling food, or on the floor chasing...spiders. (How old was she again?)

The soothsayer's smile faded slowly and she sighed.

Shen tried to keep his tone mainly curious, and not allow worry to rise up in it. "Is she still sick?"

The old goat shook her head. "No, no – she's outside, it's just.." She sighed. "She didn't seem right...when she asked me if she could go outside. She seemed sad."

"Homesick, probably," he smirked, and his Nana narrowed her eyes.

"And you take pride in that?"

He smirked again. "Perhaps the girl is still sore from what happened in the village; I can go check on her."

The soothsayer pondered on that. Okay, so this was a small breakthrough for him. He was offering to go see the child in her time of need, even if he did seem, well..._happy_ about it.

"Go right ahead. I'll finish preparing breakfast."

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When Shen found the girl curled up in into the base of a plum tree, he was confused. Not because the girl was under the plum tree, (it was a rather nice place to be after all – sweet scented like saccharine and shaded), but because there were tears on the child's face. Was she still upset about what happened in the village? Surely that couldn't be it. Why would she even care that much about him?

That's when Shen noticed something she was holding: a stuffed toy. No, a stuffed cat – an orange cat. It was tattered and worn and if it was his, it would have been thrown out long ago. But the girl continued holding the plush toy, tears rolling down her cheeks, hugging it like it was the last remnant of life in the world.

"What's the matter with you?" His tone was as gruff and hard as usual, but it wasn't completely unkind. "And what is that you're holding?"

"Go away," the kitten sniffled, having the gal to actually hurl a plum in his direction to shoo him away.

Shen ducked it, seething. "Where do you feel you get off telling me what to do?" He came and stood in front of her. "I asked you a question, kitten!"

"I'm just...upset," she growled back, not lifting her head or un-clinging from the gross stuffed animal.

"Right, because my intellect isn't high enough to at least figure _that_ out," he deadpanned. She didn't respond. He was tempted to just roll his eyes and leave right there – what did he care if she was crying? But he instead found himself standing there in silence with her, and slowly sliding down to sit on the opposite side of the tree.

Kurisu could seem to sense that she wasn't going to be getting rid of the annoying old bird for a while.

"...Today is a sad day for me," she said softly. "It's a sad anniversary for me. It's the day my mother died."

Shen nodded silently.

"And my father."

Eyes widen a bit.

"And my brothers."

Mouth gaping.

"And my grandparents; my aunts; my cousins; my friends; my neighbors."

Shen couldn't properly react to that. He twisted his neck back a bit to study the girl; her face remained placid and pained through the entire listing.

"Mass murderer of some kind?" the peacock inquired. "A hired assassin? Or a really really big earthquake?" he guessed. "Your past sounds frightening familiar to the panda."

"Yes, well.." The kitten shifted where she sat. "Po's beginning and mine started out the same. Well, my new beginning did.." She closed her eyes, turned to the peacock, and let her memories do the talking.

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_She was five again, screaming and laughing, pinned under her brothers' tickle hold as she wriggled around on their lotus patterned floor mat. Her brothers always did this to her: torment her and tickle her and tease her, just because she was the youngest._

_Their mother swiftly slid open their old sliding screen door and scolded her children for playing much too loudly. "Ojjisan is sleeping in the next room," she reminded them. "These walls are thin; he can hear you and can't sleep."_

_They had adhered her rules for a while, playing with a bouncy ball and speaking in hushed tones so as not to disturb their grandfather. Of course, their silence only lasted as long as their attention span did, and soon they were shrieking and laughing once more._

_Obaasan was next to scold, wagging her finger at them, trying to keep up with her naughty grandchildren._

_"Slow down – you'll break a leg! Your mother has plenty to worry about without you children giving her more trouble!"_

_Their mother, Lady Sakura was as busy and sometimes lonely as a single parent; their father, Kaede the henchman of the town and the mayor's right hand man. She was a traditional mother – loving and strict, with discipline and upraising no different than any other regiment in Peony Grove. She spent her days caring for her three rambunctious kittens, Kei, Rie, and little Kurisu._

_"Kurisu," the child heard her mother call. "You need a bath, dear."_

_Unlike her brothers, the five year old didn't immediately dart underneath the dinner table and make her family chase her through the halls; she rather liked baths, and even if she didn't, she didn't like the thought of getting her little hide tanned._

_The child didn't protest as her mother picked her up, and she only giggled and swatted at a fly over the elder cat's shoulder; the two making their way to the bathhouse, with grandmother following._

_Sakura undressed her daughter; her and her own mother speaking on how much the little girl had grown and how strong she was becoming, while expressing their worries of how sensitive and runty the child still seemed to be; every few minutes needing to shove the energetic kitten back into the bath water as she tried to climb out and grab at the fly that had followed them into the bathroom._

_The bath went on without further delay, and the kitten grew annoyed with the bothersome scrubbing and sponging, finally beginning to squirm and cry out in distress near the end. Her mother lifted her from the tub and wrapped her in a cotton pink towel, tickling her daughter's toes and blowing a raspberry against her soaked bare belly. The tot screamed and kicked her little legs, laughing and nuzzling into her mother's embrace, smiling as the elder cat tucked her little stuffed cat into her arms._

_"Time for bed, darling," her mother chided gently, slipping her five year old daughter into a nightgown and carrying her off._

_-Obaasan's voice; it was low and tense, and the elder cat and kitten heard her frightened cry as the door slammed open. She grabbed onto her grandsons and retreated to the back of the room. A scream was heard – Obaasan's cries. The sound of a heavy thump, and then a child crying. After several seconds, the crying ceased._

_It all happened so fast – Kurisu barely had time to react as the blood red eyes charged into her and her mother. She was slammed into the floor, confused and dazed and trying to rub the bump off her head. She clutched her Neko kitty close and crawled towards the motionless mass of her grandmother, who was curled over her lifeless older grandson._

_"Obaa-" And the toddler was yanked off the ground as a blade plunged into where her head was laying – and would still be had her mother not grabbed her in time. Her mother's skin was red, parts of it was red and she had holes on her. Kurisu got a hole with red once when she had slipped and cracked open her knee on a rock._

_Her mother ran, tore out of the house. The kitten looked back crying. Why was her mother just leaving her grandmother and little brother there? They were only sleeping and forgot to go to bed to do that._

_There was a black creature with pointed ears and red eyes standing over grandmother and Kei. He kicked them! Oh, Kurisu wanted to kick him! She remembered when she was four and Obaasan took her out into the market. A man had said mean things about Obaasan and Kurisu kicked him. Mama spanked her and ordered her to apologize to the man, but Kurisu didn't care if she'd be punished for kicking this man!_

_-But Mama was going in the other direction of the house. The entire village looked weird to the kitten; it looked like her block tower after her brothers deliberately destroyed it. Big meanies! Only...her block tower didn't have flames leaping from it. Her father's work house was on the ground like her blocks had been too. There were black cats everywhere._

_"Mama-"_

_"-Hush dear!" The elder cat's breathing was ragged; she sounded funny, but not in a funny way. Her chest had a hole and it was leaking. She held her tighter – so tight the kitten thought she'd pop like a balloon – and she ran into the forest. They were far from the village now. Kurisu was cold, so she curled into her mother's chest. Mama was colder though – losing too much red stuff. 'Blued' was what the toddler was sure it was called._

_"Mama, are you losin' too much blued?"_

_The black mass that had put Obaasan and her brothers to sleep slammed into her mother. The elder cat screamed and drove her fan into the black cat, but he grabbed something – a knife, that sharp thing that Mama always said 'no, no – don't touch, dear; it's sharp'. He hit her mother with it, and Kurisu found herself slammed into the ground again – the grass this time. She rolled under a bush. Dizzy, she went to sleep._

_The kitten woke up and crawled out of the cold bush. It was pitch black now, and she was tired and cold. She was a bit scared too. She waited for her mother to come and take her home; she wanted to go to bed. She found Neko laying in some mud beside her and she brushed it off._

_Mama never showed up._

_Sniffling and looking at the forest with bleary eyes, the kitten's eyes fell on a pair of feet – duck feet. No, no, Mama had corrected that: goose feet. She looked up. It was Mr. Ping! He looked so sad... Mr. Ping and his son – her best friend – Po were best friends with her mother and father, and matter a fact – had come to Peony Grove for a vacation. They were supposed to come and play tomorrow, but the kitten just guessed he decided to come earlier._

_Tears rolled down the old goose's face as he picked her up – Neko too, whispering "darling..." as he held her close._

_The kitten buried into him; she loved the smell of his feathers. He smelled different than Mama, but still really nice. His beak touched her forehead. She guessed he was trying to kiss her, but he poked her in the eye instead with that dumb beak. She batted at his beak a bit, looking curious as he carried her farther from what used to be her village._

_"Mr Pin'," she pointed out. "We gotta go back home 'n wake Obaasan and my brothers."_

_He just sobbed._

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The story had long since finished, and Kurisu just sat there, hugging herself since no one else would do that – and sobbing. Every so often whispering 'Obaasan'; 'mother', 'father', and the names that Shen assumed were her brothers and other family.

The peacock sat there, trembling slightly and giving very quiet gasping breaths – the kind he did when his emotions had hit its peak. He – he hadn't expected that. When the child told him she had lost her family that day, he knew the story would be terrible, but _that..._

There were no words.

And the kitten was far beyond being able to say anymore words anyway as she sat there and grieved, hugging her stuffed cat that Shen now saw as far more than a stupid smelly rag. She felt something soft touch her head, leaves? It was feather light. No, it was _feathers_- Shen's feathers. She looked up.

Shen just stood there, a wing still on the girl's head. There were no words to express his feelings right now – pain, guilt. Guilt beyond belief. Guiltier than he had ever felt in his life, and he _never_ felt guilt. Well, not since he was a child.

And what was there to feel guilty about? He hadn't caused the mass deaths that effected this child, not in any way. His guilt didn't pertain to anything he had done to her; he felt guilty for how he always felt, all his life. He was so sure he had such a terrible life and in some aspects it wasn't the best, but his childhood pain didn't hold a candle to the pain that happened to that girl in that one day. She grew up happy, but she didn't grow up with real parents. He did. And he took them for granted. And he shamed them..

And he caused their death...

The peacock felt his eyes prickle with the threat of tears.

"I don't understand it though.." His breathing was ragged; his wing had left the girl's head and was clenched tight. "After that, after losing your family and home, how did that not make your childhood miserable? How did you not grow up to turn into...into.."

"Something like you did?" the kitten guessed. "What happens.." She recalled how Po had referred to it as 'story'- "in your story doesn't have to change you. Scars only appear if you let them appear. The pain of losing my family will always be with me, but it doesn't make me who I am. Yours shouldn't have either."

His voice was held hostage in his throat, stuck to his vocal chords. And he remembered what Nana told him when he was young.

_A person's life is a story: it is full of pages with the conflicts and climaxes, and happy or sad endings. Not all stories have happy beginnings, but it doesn't mean the rest of the person's story has to be just as terrible; it does not have to condemn their life to disaster. It is the role they take, the protagonist or the antagonist; the deeds they do. It is the rest of their story that makes them who they are, who they choose to be:_

The hero or the villain.

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_(You can bet I was listening to parts of "Po Finds The Truth" when I wrote the scene of the invasion. :D _

_I know Kurisu's past and how she came to be with Mr. Ping is similar to how Po did, but funny thing is that I made her life story long before the plot of KFP 2 was released. So, dat's cool._

_And Xun is obviously the wolf boss; he needed a mention here._

_Sakura - Cherry Blossom_

Kei - Joyful

Kaede - Maple tree

Rie - Blessed with logic

Xun - Swift and fast

Sheng Li - Victorious and triumphant

Obaasan and Ojiijan - Grandmother and grandfather)


	8. Chapter 8

Redeeming Light  
>Chapter 7 - <em>Dangerous Disobedience<em>

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><em>

"Stay still!"

"No! I told you, you brat, I am in no part of this!"

"Just one?"

"I said no – get that OFF me!" He knocked it aside with a blade.

She picked another up.

"This one's prettier and it matches your eyes! See? It's red – ruby red!"

" I swear to the gods in the heaven, kitten..."

She tucked it into his feathers.

"There! Now you're beautiful!"

The soothsayer could be heard laughing as she laid out a small picnic blanket under the peach tree.

"I blame you!" Shen snarled at his nanny. "This was YOUR idea!" He caught sight of Kurisu advancing to him with more flowers, and in a flash, was in a stance; a knife extended – not a centimeter close to the kitten, but only inches away from the flowers tucked into her arms.

"You bring one more flower even fifty yards near me and your entire bouquet and every last flower in _Dao-ming_ will become a lovely pot of POTPOURRI," he warned her, feathers flattened, eyes narrowed in warning.

The girl's ears went back, smiling that same crooked little smile that always melted the hearts of anyone that was mad at her. Well, almost anyone: Shen rolled his eyes before giving the glimmer of a smirk, and going to join his nanny on the picnic blanket.

"It is a beautiful day," the soothsayer breathed out, inhaling the sweet sent of the breeze and peach blossoms as she nibbled on her batch of freshly baked melon buns.

That it was: the nicest day _Dao-ming_ had seen in ages. The nicest day _Gong-men_ had seen in ages. The blossoms were blooming marvelously; shy little peach buds beginning to turn into a thriving orchard, yet still holding onto that blissful flowery scent. The grass shone from the sunlight absorbed; the day was bright and cloudless with a gentle comforting breeze. The waterfall was the perfect temperature for an afternoon dip – not that Kurisu and the soothsayer had been able to coax the peacock remotely _close_ to the water.

"I want a peach," Kurisu said abruptly, stretching out over her lotus quilt, which acted as the picnic blanket that day.

"Do you see any peaches yet, imbecile? It's only early summer – barely passed spring," Shen pointed out from behind his teacup, and quickly setting it down with a grimace of 'too hot – ouch', casting a glare to the sun that was most likely heating it further. "I will personally give you ten _yuan_ if you manage to find a peach up there." He snickered. "If you can even climb that tree."

Oh, he irked her there! Topped off with annoyed cat tail twitching, along with a twitching eye.

"Dude, I'm a cat! I can scale that tree effortlessly within like five seconds!"

"'Dude'", Shen scoffed. "You sound just like your brother. Oh the horror, there's two of them." He shuddered. "Fine then, kitten, a new bet for you. Scale that tree all the way to the top and find a peach and bring it back down and I'll give you thirty _yuan._" He noticed his nanny's mouth gaping and he smirked; he knew she'd lose that bet.

"That's an unfair bet!" the kitten protested angrily. "I have no _yuan_!"

"Tell you what: if you lose you can just shut up for the rest of the day – a probably difficult feat for you. Quite honestly, that would be worth the thirty yuan." He chuckled as the child pouted at him, and waved a wing as signal for her to start.

She leaped immediately, only to slide back down to the base and tumble back, tail fluttering down and landing on her face. Her eyes narrowed when she heard Shen start laughing, and she hopped back on all fours. She eyed the tree like a loathed enemy, eyes closing in on her target: top branch. She leaped again, surprising Shen and herself as she ran up the side of the tree with ease.

"You're going to be out some money," the soothsayer snickered quietly, watching her chick's eyes grow with increasing worry as the kitten climbed higher and higher.

He waved it off dismissively. "Oh, a few coins; I can afford to spare that. It is not like the kitty will be finding a fruit on those branches."

The snickers grew louder, and the old goat stayed quiet on the small cream orange sphere she saw at the very top branch.

"I found one!" Kurisu's voice, victorious and excited beyond belief (probably realizing she was about to get some money) from the very top branch. "Oh, it's ripe too! Yes!"

"What?" Shen hissed, briefly glaring at his nanny who started laughing, before charging at the tree.

"Oh yeah!" The child did a little victory dance on the branch. "I just have to pick this and – GAH!" the entire tree rumbled. She wobbled on the branch, screaming as she fell and quickly wrapping her arms around a branch, trying to reach the peach now a few branches up. Furious, she glared down at the disturbance: Shen hitting the tree with the hilt of his sword.

"_Hey!_"

"There's no way I'm going to be out thirty _yuan!_" the peacock lord growled, smashing into the tree again.

"EEP!" Kurisu screamed, her fingers desperately scrambled to keep a firm hold on the branch. "SHEN!"

"Oh my heavens, Shen, she'll fall!" the soothsayer exclaimed in horror, running to the tree and glowering at the smirking peacock.

"If she does, she'll land on her feet," Shen snickered, giving the tree a final impressive whack.

A piercing scream was heard, and then the sound of leaves rustling; they could be seen being jostled as the kitten fell about ten feet down the branches, screeches of "ows" heard all the way down. Shen and the soothsayer waited for the child to land on the picnic blanket, but all that fell were a few leaves.

Cautiously – one nervous and one smirking – the peacock and goat peered up into the tree, and were met with a ludicrous sight: she hung there off a branch by her tail, casually swinging back and forth. Her arms crossed, looking less than amused as she peered up at where her tail was caught in a branch.

"Oh goodness!" the soothsayer gasped, one hoof to her mouth and another urgently tugging Shen's robe. "Shen, help her!"

The peacock blinked, his momentary shock giving away to thorough enjoyment. He smirked.

"I _would_...if her swinging by her tail like a monkey wasn't so _considerably_ amusing to me."

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"You seem tense, Nana," Shen observed, watching as the soothsayer stiffly climbed _Dao-ming's_ stairs. "Is something wrong?" He smirked. "Or is it just the age getting to you?" The peacock watched in hopes of cracking a smile, but she only looked more somber, lips pursed. She turned to the direction of the city. It had been a long day, and a dreary one; always expect that after such a beautiful warm sunny day.

"I'm a little worried, Shen.."

"Of?"

She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again. The issue – was it alright to tell him? Or would it only put him in further danger somehow, if he did know?

"_Of?_" Shen pressed.

The elderly goat gave a resigned sigh. She walked further to the edge of the steps and Shen followed her. She could feel them – see their eyes burning into hers and her childrens'. They were watching..They were waiting for the perfect time to strike.

"_Nana,_" Shen half growled, eyes full of concern. "Does it have something to do with the kitten? Surely she isn't still depressed over that 'family matter'; it's been six days!" He hesitated. Of course, the anniversary of a mass genocide on your entire family and home _would _take a while to forget.

"No, it doesn't really have anything to do with the gir...well, it sort of does: all of us, really." She noticed his eyebrows twitching in growing impatience and sighed. "I think the city is beginning to get suspicious."

He stiffened, trying to breathe calmly.

"It must be from Kurisu and my so many trips to the city," the soothsayer sighed. "We are always buying your favorite foods; drinks; and certain things you like. Not to mention that sculpture of a peacock the child bought you the other day."

Shen gave a long suffering groan and slumped to a sit. Sculpture of a peacock: because that didn't say a genocidal warlord peacock was hiding up in the forest. (Not to mention the fact he found that statue particularly ugly)

"What all are they saying?"

"Whispers of rumors that you live somewhere in the mountains. At least they guessed mountains, and not the forest," the soothsayer offered with a smile. It quickly fell before Shen had a chance to respond. "I noticed that during my last shopping trip Li was closely examining my bags; he was leaning right over the counter and peering into the bag of sago tarts."

The peacock's eyes glazed over with a cool look.

"That's just the thing, you need to be more subtle on these trips," Shen told her, relaxing a bit and beginning to walk off. "If you are, then the villagers will not grow suspicious. I can live without sago tarts and plum rice and peach cordial. Going to buy anymore when the town is already making such assumptions could land us all in danger."

"So then, don't get your favorite foods anymore?" the soothsayer inquired.

"Well..." The albino peacock flushed a bit, wings behind his back and face turned away. "I didn't...say that." He caught her smirking and blushing further, quickly added, "but don't get any for a while – matter a fact don't go into the city for a while; we have enough food to last us another week or so. Trips to the city don't need to be constant."

His nanny nodded in agreement; the gut wrenching feeling having faded a bit. If Shen wasn't too concerned then there was no need for her to be concerned either. After all, it was his life that was mostly at stake, and hers and the child. He'd be on red alert if there was a need to worry about this.

"Very well, Shen.. The city gets boring after a while anyways." She started to leave, stopping in mid step and turning to the peacock with a look of horror. "Oh no! But the Dragon Boast Festival is tonight!" She twiddled with her hoofs. "I promised the girl I'd take her to it... I-I've been telling her about it for days."

"Too bad," Shen snapped. "She's missing it. The festival goes more and more down the tube every year anyways; she isn't missing much – last year the boat they made sank before it even reached the harbor and audience's eyes. So I heard." He smirked.

The soothsayer deflated. She knew Shen was doing this for the girl's safety, but even still...

"She's been so upset over thinking of what happened and I know she misses home; this would be just the thing to cheer her up."

Shen sighed heavily and turned to the elderly goat. "Nana, you know as well as I do that the citizens associate her with you; therefore associate her with _me._ If they realize that she is helping you 'harbor a fugitive', they will kill her. They will then sought out and kill you too...and save me for last for a probably malevolent torture."

The soothsayer nodded slowly, which quickly became a more certain nod, grimacing as she thought of the villagers finding them. "I understand," she sighed. "And I'll tell her. She will be crushed."

The peacock's back was turned to her; he spoke in a very odd tone.

"I would rather her feelings be crushed than have her skull and bones crushed by an impending mob attack."

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"What?" the teen fumed. "You can't be serious!"

Not the least perturbed with the child's tantrum, Shen stood there surprisingly calm, taking every verbal insult/threat/jab/whine – as it came. He let her go on with the raging for a few minutes, and then whipped out a switch, cracking it like thunder against the wall.

Instantly, she backed off in alarm, ears low.

"I am perfectly serious," the peacock growled. He allowed a smirk to briefly take the place of his stern frown. "When have you known me to joke? Anyways, you're not going. End of discussion." She should have known, his word was law.

"Nana said I could go!" the kitten growled, her back fur bristling. "You're under her authority, not the other way around!"

"Nana was the one that decided this!" Shen snarled. "It is much too dangerous, kitten! It is dangerous for you – and worse, dangerous for us! The city is out for my blood and they were sure they had it when the canon fell. Now that they suspect I'm still alive, they will look to find me. First, they will look to find Nana. If you go down there, you could be bound in a stock used for public execution and whipped until you tell them!"

"Who's to say that will happen!" Kurisu cried, all hopes of being able to convince him starting to fall to her stomach. "I mean..you two are probably blowing this whole thing out of proportion!"

"You weren't there at Nana's last trip to the city, so no opinion!" he snapped. "Li is even growing suspicious; Li has known Nana since they were children, and – and he's starting to turn his back on her over this!" The kitten opened her mouth (likely to snap and protest further), but Shen frightened her words back into her mouth before a syllable left her lips.

"_You. Aren't. Going._"

Ears low and eyes narrowed like an angry tabby, the kitten backed up a few more steps, before slinking off with a look of what looked to Shen like defeat and resignation.

But it was really defiance and determination.

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She waited until it got much darker, preferably just wanting to be there in time for the fireworks show. Nothing else really mattered other than the colorful patterns in the night sky; it had been ages since she had last seen fireworks. Of course she had missed the spectacular show celebrating Shen's 'death,' before. According to Po, it was a sight to see. That she missed.

_Not today.._

The Lord and Lady of Gongmen had created fireworks, which only fueled her enthusiasm further to see something created by Shen's parents. If she hurried, she'd be there in time for the boat ride too! A Dragon Boat!

Carefully scaling through the forest (it had just rained the night before), Kurisu slid down a few hills. The mud made for a very formidable and entertaining slide. She grinned, giving a laugh and hopping onto the sidewalk.

Lanterns glistened, hanging from a thin rope that spread across the entire town. They were alight with symbolic colors, and Kurisu could instantly note that most of them were messily painted by children. Paintings of family with effortlessly scrawled kanji; there were some lanterns painted with peacocks – most obviously Lord Jin and Lady Ah-Lam. And of course, there were lanterns of dragons.

Merchants looked up at her from their carts. Their expressions were not friendly; a far cry from the cheerful and welcoming smiles they gave the other day: as customary for a village to greet their 'new neighbor.' They narrowed their eyes coldly. Some looked like they wanted to rip someone's limbs off and she was praying it wasn't her!

_This is a bad idea...go back,_ her gut pleaded. She refused to listen to it. Why trust something that only gave her indigestion and growled at her all the time? So, she was getting unfriendly stares, so what? Vendors could just be stressed. After all, it was a festival day and the streets were swarming with customers wanting to buy something. Yet, those glares made her sickly uneasy; they were directed right at her, and were the single most hideous and accusing stares she had ever seen.

_I really should go back.._The girl was breathing heavily now, shaking and wishing she was with the comfort of the soothsayer and even Shen. Anything was better than this right now.

"Little miss!" An elderly driver was calling to her from the dock. He was smiling; it instantly made it easier for the girl to breathe. It wasn't a malicious smile either, and not a forced one. A welcoming one, as was his paw as he waved her over.

"Ya like boats, little miss?"

Kurisu eyed the giant boat with wonder. It was a spectrum of colors and looked like a fire breathing dragon. Such careful craftsmanship; a pattern carved so beautifully on the side. It was beautiful, and was it ever big! (She hadn't ever seen a boat before; this one was barely a bit more than the size of a merchant's raft.)

"Little miss? Want to hop on board?" The captain carefully examined the pale look on the girl's face and chuckled. "It doesn't bite, come aboard! There's plenty of other passengers to converse with."

Oh, lovely. The girl shut her eyes, and liked the thought of simply wordlessly bolting out of there and returning to the temple to 'face the music'. If she was lucky, no one had noticed she was gone yet. (Little did she know, Shen was currently thinking of ways to kill her upon her return.)

"That's her," a voice hissed from the passenger side.

"The child?"

"She's in on it?"

"I bet she's helping the old goat hide him-"

"Who's to say she is – look at her-"

"She's pretty pale and scared looking-"

"She couldn't have done it-"

"She's too innocent looking; she's a child-"

"She's pale because she's realized we've found her out!"

There really wasn't a time increment small enough to use to describe just how _fast _the kitten tore off that boat. Barely before the boat left the dock, only a foot from pushing off, she had just LEAPED off. Breathing heavily and trying not to hyperventilate, (Master Shifu's breathing coaching in meditation would really help out here), she dashed down the streets. Nothing mattered right now except getting back to the temple, away from these accusing stares. She just wanted to get home – well, what was home now. She wanted to run to her room and curl up under her blankets in safety; she wanted to run and cling to the soothsayer and Shen and bawl for having disobeyed them.

She didn't even realize how far she had ran – and impressively up those mud slides – until she could see Dao-ming well within reach. The more she slipped in the mud, now conscious she was running, the more freaked out she became. Her feet started to slip back, but in her terrified mindset, she thought it was someone grabbing her.

"Shen, help me!"

No response.

Finally, her foot gave way in the unrelenting mud, and she screamed as she slid back down the wet hill; the little mud slide suddenly anything but fun. She sprawled into the grass, starting to sob and shake.

"Oh, Shen, please help... Nana..."

"So.." a voice abruptly rasped. It could be heard snickering as the child gave a small scream. "I knew the soothsayer was hiding something. I never thought Min Yun would actually hold such a big secret from me. More, I thought she knew better than that! Harboring that monster – from us!"

Fireworks illuminated the face and the axe, and it was as pathetic fallacy as it would be had lightning cracked across the sky to illuminate his face. But how ironic that all the child wanted that night was the see the fireworks, and now she couldn't even concentrate on them, eyes glued to the axe and his eyes.

"Li? Merchant Li? What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing," the pig snarled.

"I-I live in the woods with Nana," she barely managed to quiver out, backing up desperately, and losing her footing in the mud.

"And that beast Lord Shen!"

"N – no! I mean, don't call him that!" She yelled, that comment momentarily enraging her enough out of her fear. "You don't even know him!"

"I _knew_ it! He IS still alive!" Triumphant while further fueled with hatred and revenge, he advanced to her, amist the terrified child's protests of 'no – please don't! Shen! SHEN!'

Kurisu couldn't believe it. Was this really the same irritating and smug little pig that pulled her tail the other day? Had he totally lost his mind – wanting to swing an AXE at her?

_Is this town's hatred for Shen really so great that they lose sight of their own MINDS when they think of him?_

There was nothing the girl could do: she didn't have her fans or any sort of weapon; she was backed up against a tree; she was surrounded by mud and every time she lifted her leg to try and jump – or what more, kick – she slipped into the muck the rain left behind. There was really only one thing she could do: run. Climb, more like it. She praised the gods in heaven for the fireworks; they made for a formidable light and guide, illuminating the pathway to the temple, and glinting on the axe as it swung at her.

Wood splintered above her as the axe split a tree, raining shavings and splinters down at her. The axe was stuck, more time to get away.

But it was at this point that her dress sandals had decided 'enough with the running and walking; we need a break' – promptly skidding into the mud, and causing the child to topple backwards. Blinded by the mud, she desperately rubbed at her eyes and scrambled against the rocks behind her, only able to stare as the axe was raised high over her head. She shut her eyes.

-Something whizzed past her face: silver and sparkly and sharp; it stuck right into Li's heart, and he fell back stiff, eyes wide in surprise at the attack. He landed in the mud and didn't get up.

"Trying to split open a defenseless stupid little girl like a cantaloupe with an axe and chasing her through the mud - _really _Li, I would expect better from one of Nana's friends," Shen told the lifeless body as he abruptly dropped from the tree. His eyes were somber and notably sad. "To see how drastically her old friend has turned on her, Nana is going to be crushed..."

Kurisu just sat there and shook. In a flash – so fast and fierce that her arm was jerked nearly out of her socket and she lost her shoe in the mud- Shen yanked her out, literally throwing her out in front of him as he stormed up the muddy climb.

"You're not injured – not yet at least - _WALK_," the peacock lord snarled viciously, showing no guilt and not even amusement as she slammed into a tree trying to regain footing.

With Kurisu's fright automatically propelling her up the hill, and Shen just tearing up like a whirlwind, they reached _Dao-ming _quickly.

Shen – Kurisu hadn't ever seen him like this before. This wasn't just anger, it was plain hot white fiery rage that glazed and burned in his crimson eyes and bristled every last feather on his body as he snarled and panted. She was dead, and this probably wasn't an exaggeration.

"_Kurisu,_" he began. That was enough to freeze her blood rigid in her veins: he had not _EVER_ called her by her name before. "What. In. The. God's name...were you thinking." Now the tone had dipped to a dangerous whisper; she really nearly lost all bladder control there.

"I..." she barely squeaked. "I just wanted to-"

"_I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THERE!_" So much for whispering, and so much for her being able to breathe either. Though the kitten noticed something: not just rage and a desire to murder her – was that fear she saw in his eyes? Come to think of it, he had that look since he found her in the mud.

"I'm sorry!" the kitten cried, literally terrified for her life at this moment. She backed away desperately, wondering if she'd have preferred being sliced in half by that pig to whatever Shen was going to do to her. "I promise, I _won't ever-!_" She was cut off, suddenly finding herself face down into the grass, the green blades pushed into her eyes.

Shen whipped something out of his robe and then swooped down.

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The soothsayer was honestly nervous to step through the kitten's door: she had no idea of the damage she'd find, the condition the girl was in. She hadn't ever seen Shen so angry and typically at that point of rage, it was inevitable that the poor victim would be bleeding and bruised – perhaps within an inch of their life.

Surely Shen would never have done that to the child...would he?

"I know you're out there," came a miserable and hoarse voice; her breathing erratic from obvious crying.

"I have my medical kit.." the soothsayer began awkwardly-

"I just need some ice," the girl sniffled.

"No bandages?" The goat was surprised and relieved; she was sure there'd be a bit of blood depending on the weapon the peacock had struck her with, or at least a bruise. Well, bruises needed ice, so probably. The soothsayer opened the door, all urges to yell at the insubordinate kitten gone the moment her eyes saw those wide teary ones.

"Please don't yell at me," the girl pleaded, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. She turned her face away in shame so as not to see her Nana's displeased look. "Shen did enough of that, screaming at me for about ten minutes. I guess I deserved it though..."

"You did," the soothsayer said tersely, though beginning to rethink that as she looked at the full extent of the switch marks. "Kurisu, what were you thinking? You had us both worried sick, child." She tried to hold back her tears. "I was so sure I lost you, and Shen - he actually looked just about as scared as me; he certainly didn't hide it well and was too focused on finding you for 'my sake' that he didn't bother to try and hide his fear. I think his rage and the full extent of your punishment came from his worry."

"I...he was worried about me?" the child asked incredulously. "I didn't think – OW!" She cried out as the sting of the ice bag froze the back of her legs, but at least lessened a bit of the burning. "I knew he was efficient with a sword, but I didn't count a switch to feel...well, worse than a sword."

"Darling, I'd say you got off lucky," the soothsayer almost snapped. "Granted you have...stripes all over your legs, but I figured there'd be much worse – blood for instance." She chuckled a bit as the kitten gave a squeal as the icepack touched her rear.

"He hates me now, I'm sure.." the kitten sobbed into her arms, squirming and kicking as the ice pack froze her legs. She whimpered, gritting her teeth and bearing it as the soothsayer firmly held the ice to the marks, warning her to keep it on.

"Oh, I don't think so.. If he'll beat you to keep you safe, then I can't see him hating you over one act of disobedience." She helped the sore girl to sit, placing her hooves in her lap and smiling as she tousled the kitten's fur. "It takes less work to build an entire bridge in a day, then it does to somehow wriggle your way into that stubborn peacock's heart." Her eyes twinkled. "And it'll take a lot more than one misdeed to 'kick you out.'"

The kitten didn't look sure, after a while just shaking her head and burrowing into the blankets with a sob. "I – I'm not in the mood for a heart to heart, Nana. If you don't mind, I want to get back to crying into my pillow."

The soothsayer pushed no further and merely stood, placing a kiss on the girl's forehead over the blankets, and placing the ice bag on her bedside table.

Her heart was still pounding and had been since finding her child missing. With all this stress, it was a wonder that her heart hadn't given out yet!

"So it seems you cut the girl no slack, nor showed mercy," the soothsayer said nonchalantly as she stood beside her chick on the balcony.

"After blatantly disobeying me and nearly getting herself killed, and probably us as well – and getting off with only a series of red marks, and no blood nor bruises, I'd say I showed _plenty _of mercy and self control," the peacock snapped back.

"She's in quite a lot of pain," the goat observed.

"Good, and with the look of those marks, she'll be in pain and unable to really move well until tomorrow morning. Plus the fact I doubt she'll sleep; she'll have all night to think about what earned her that agony."

The soothsayer wasn't going to heckle the peacock over the brutality of the girl's punishment, because frankly it was amazingly lenient coming from a genocidal peacock emperor with the patience and temper as thin as ice and a robe full of knives.

"...You were really worried, weren't you," the goat smiled, looking up at her chick.

His mouth twitched in annoyance and he held his head up higher, eyes still narrowed.

"I wasn't," he said simply. "There's no need for me to worry about the well being of a prisoner."

The soothsayer wanted to beat his little albino noggin with her cane. After all that – after tonight – he _still had the gal to say.._

"Shen, you just sent the girl off to her bedroom covered from backside to...ankles, really, in switch marks because you were terrified she'd be killed tonight."

"She disobeyed me," the peacock growled. "I'm merely keeping the brat in line and in her place.. I could care less about that impudent kid."

"Really now dear, who are you trying to convince here? Me..."

"..."

"...Or _yourself?_"

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_(Terrible ending is terrible. Really...it's like... nearly 6 in the morning, so I'm kinda spent. XD I'll double spell check it tomorrow)_


	9. Chapter 9

Redeeming Light  
>Chapter 8 - <em>Never Tickle A Peacock<em>

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The _Dao-ming _sun had long since peeked over the mountain horizons, casting its earthly glow on the temple and flowers. Kurisu could see the sun peeking into her window, and she felt the warm rays tap on her.

The kitten groaned and gingerly pulled her quilt over her punished bottom and legs; the sun rays were really irritating the already still lingering fiery sting. The night had been brutal; obviously she slept on her stomach, but she couldn't sleep anyways. The burning marks and overwhelming guilt kept her up all night softly sobbing into her quilt.

Her stomach tugged and growled at her brain in annoyance, starving. She felt dizzy and drained from her ordeal, but that could also be because she tore out of the city before getting a bite to eat. (And she was understandably too terrified to leave her room that night, fearing a more brutal punishment if she did.)

She blinked back further tears as she slowly and carefully slipped off her bed, changing into a kimono: there was no way she was wearing her tight slacks! Her stomach gnawed painfully at her and she sniffled as she curled up on the bed. No, she could do without food. Maybe she'd wait until Shen went outside...

"Aren't you hungry?"

She shrieked and toppled back onto the bed, yelping as her quilt roughly brushed against the marks. Even the soft fabric felt like sandpaper. She was annoyed when she heard an amused chuckle and he poked his white head through the doorway.

"Nana has had breakfast on the table for ten minutes now." Slowly, he slid the entire door open, stepping in. He stopped in mid conversation, surveying her room. It was the first time he'd actually seen the soothsayer's work; she had brightened the dim white walls with a coating of painted lilies; there was a very small bamboo beside table next to the child's sleeping mat where her clothes and any other small quantity of possessions were. She even had a huge window – with curtains!

_There's no prisoner here,_ the peacock inwardly snorted. _She's a resident; guest and family whether I like it or not._

"I..I guess this is the first time you've been in my room," Kurisu said, deciding to break the awkward silence. "How come you're just coming in now?"

"Going into a little girl's bedroom that is full of flowers and pink and purple things is _not_ exactly my forte," Shen said with a disgusted grimace. How could anyone bear to be in this room without having the desire to rip out their eyeballs with some sort of _blade?_

The kitten was amused, but was still much too nervous to grin or giggle.

"Come," Shen ordered, and the girl automatically stood and followed without the hint of reluctance. "I know you're hungry; you didn't come out for dinner last night. It's not like I forbid you to eat."

Kurisu was already mentally kicking herself in the head. Seriously? She was allowed out of her room? Well, come to think of it, Shen hadn't even sent her to her room after switching her; she just ran off before she started bawling like a toddler in front of him. Even still, the thought of going out for dinner and held under his accusing angry eyes made her shudder. She was glad she skipped.

She followed him silently, the sensation of guilty tears threatening. He seemed to realize that because he glanced back at her as they walked with a less than unkind look. He didn't say anything to her though.

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked calmly, trying to keep the tears out her voice.

He stopped walking, head lifting higher in the way it usually did when he was thinking. The silence was agonizing for the girl; she expected he'd furiously snarl a malicious 'what do you think?', or perhaps whip out the switch again to give her a 'reminder' punishment, and she certainly didn't expect what did come from his mouth.

"No," he said calmly, turning to lead them to the dining hall.

"Y...you aren't?" the kitten blinked, stunned. "But..._why?_"

The lord hesitated, stopping in mid walk again and turning to the girl.

"You've been adequately punished," he said, still in that nonchalant voice. "There's no need to prolong the agony..." At that moment she girl moaned, a hand going back to rub at her aching backside and legs. "...So to speak," the peacock finished with a wry smirk.

The girl walked on with him. A sense of renewed peace and tranquility in the air. It was similar to when she disobeyed at home: the verdict was carried through; the culprit punished, and no residential hard feelings from the ordeal. It was like she had a clean slate, and they could all just move on.

"Kurisu, dear, good morning," the soothsayer greeted kindly. She didn't seem angry either. "Are you hungry? I made some breakfast spring rolls."

The old goat came around the table and kissed her cheek (the kitten guessed it was her way of mending things up) ,and she kindly laid a small silk cushion on the hard wooden chair. The girl gratefully went to sit on the most welcomed little pillow – and Shen promptly chucked it across the room.

No, there were no hard feelings per say, but he seemed happy to let her suffer further.

Huffing quietly, the kitten gingerly sat down on the hard seat. She fought back a glare when Shen subtly smirked at her grimace of pain.

There were no sounds now except for the trio silently chewing, and the occasional 'pass the butter/salt/pepper please.' After everything that happened, Kurisu actually welcomed the silence. She had no idea what to say to either Shen or the soothsayer.

Eventually, the peacock decided to break the awkward silence.

"About last night.."

The kitten felt a gut twisting sensation. She bit her lip and looked down, her eyes prickling with coming tears.

"You...you said you weren't mad about that anymore," she sniffled. She heard him sigh in exasperation and was afraid to look up.

"Let me finish," Shen snapped; she instantly shut her mouth, ears back. "I wasn't going to get into your disobedience. What I'm concerned about is your fighting," he told her.

Instantly, the kitten grew defensive.

"What – there's nothing wrong with my fighting! I'm under the apprenticeship of the Grandmaster AND my brother the _Dragon Warrior?_" she gestured with her hand, looking at him like he lost his mind.

"Yes, yes, the panda.." Shen's eyes narrowed in bitter hate. "Don't remind me. No, kitten; fine, you're being trained and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with your fighting. You surprised me at the Jade Palace, remember?" He stopped to roll his eyes and briefly smirk when the girl straightened up proudly in her seat. "But what happened last night shows that you don't know what to do in an emergency situation. Or, it at least shows that you freeze up in one and can't really do anything."

"_Freeze?_" the kitten scoffed. "Did you see how fast I RAN? I could'a circled China and back with that speed!"

The peacock lord pursed his lips, losing patience. She just didn't get it.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," he began in a snappy tone. "But I do not think it is very befitting for a Kung Fu warrior to _run._"

"No, you don't get it," Kurisu growled back. "I could'a easily taken down Li; he was a pig – well, one with an axe, but still! I just.." Her ears flattened at Shen's cynically doubtful look. "He was Nana's friend.." She bit her lip and fought the threat of tears when she saw the soothsayer push her glasses up a bit to hide her clouded eyes.

"Your compassion is dually noted," Shen droned, trying to be emotionless. He didn't care much for Li, but this was still perhaps the first murder he had done that he actually felt guilt for: Li was his nanny's old friend and he knew how much killing the pig hurt her.

"What you don't realize kitten is that in the face of danger there is no room for sympathy."

"You never hesitated to kill the pig.." Kurisu sniffled.

"No," Shen agreed; his tone was calm, but it was quickly beginning to rise. "Because if I had then your brain – or whatever you have for one – would be splattered over every tree in _Dao-ming!_ And perhaps I would not have had to kill Li if you had just obeyed me when I said 'no!'" He was standing over the table now, feathers slightly flared. One silent tug from the soothsayer on his sleeve and he sat back down again.

Kurisu had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What I'm getting at kitten is that you may be skilled in fighting, but if the terrain is as terrible as it was last night then there's no hopes of even being able to stand up correctly, let alone kick. You need to be skilled in weaponry too." She blinked and he stood, quietly thanking his nanny and beckoning the kitten outside with him.

"What do you expect me to do?" Kurisu demanded sourly as she pouted and stormed out after the peacock, who forced himself to remain calm with her back-chat. "I don't so much feel like training of any sort today; I'd rather lie down 'cause I'm still pretty sore."

"Your sore butt isn't my problem," he snapped. "Now get over here and stand in front of me." When she obeyed, he surveyed her carefully, circling the apprehensive kitten, which only further frazzled her nerves.

"I have a hard time seeing why Shifu would take you in as a student. Other than a few good blocking techniques and a few acceptable fighting moves, you don't seem very useful."

The kitten's eyes widened and she flashed the peacock a hurt glare. Harsh critique much, and she thought _Shifu_ was bad! But maybe he was right; Shifu was too kind to really admit it, but she knew he looked down upon her clumsiness and probably wished she understood lessons and forms easier. She didn't.

"Show me what you can do with this." He tossed one of his knives towards her, rolling his eyes as she didn't catch it in time and it nicked a part of her kimono. "Throw the knife."

The kitten stretched a foot forward and positioned the knife – and she yelped as a burning sting erupted over her paw.

"No!" Shen scolded, holding a bamboo rod (eerily similar to Shifu's). He lightly tapped her sore paw into the proper position, and then jabbed her leg back a bit. "If you stretch your leg too far you'll wobble like - " he put her back on balance with the rod. "See? Now you won't wobble and your aim won't be as clumsy. Now, try again."

The kitten obeyed. She stepped back slightly, crossing her eyes towards a small painted target Shen made for her. She aimed carefully and threw the knife like an arrow and it – it bounced off the side of the tree. The kitten bit her tongue and didn't want to look at Shen, figuring he'd look disgusted and disappointed.

"Again," was all the peacock said, and not unkindly. His days with Master Thundering Rhino came in handy with this girl; the rhino had been incredibly patient with him as a chick as he struggled with the moves, constantly falling, getting dizzy easily, or just crying over bruising a bone. Patience, Shen knew, was a diligently needed part of Kung Fu: in both learning it and teaching it.

Kurisu threw the knife again, this time really focusing to make sure it hit its target. Again, it bounced off the painted circle.

"Better," Shen said awkwardly; "at least you actually hit the target this time."

"It bounced off," the kitten mumbled, knife lowering to her side.

"It takes practice," the peacock said simply. "I didn't take you out here with hopes that you'd be slicing branches off with one knife thrown from fifty yard away, by the end of this day."

"Good, 'cause if that was the case I'd tell you where to go," she muttered. He actually looked amused.

"What I'm aiming for today is to get you to have the feel of a knife and get used to throwing one. We'll worry about trying to accomplish actually _hitting_ the targets tomorrow." He stepped back. "Again. Focus, kitten."

The child played with the knife in her paw for a few brief moments, much to Shen's annoyance. She stepped back again, crouching but not too much. She was in perfect position, and Shen waited in anticipation as she readied the knife, and -

-and a butterfly crossed her vision. Shen's wings fell to his sides, lips pursed as he watched the kitten carelessly toss down the blade and prance happily after the winged creature through the flowers. Her eyes alight with excitement, she bounced up and batted at the insect, unaware to what Shen was doing.

There was a sharp blur that tore through the butterfly and pinned it to a tree; the insect's wings delicately tearing off and fluttering like paper at the base of the tree. The butterfly completely limp.

Kurisu just stood there in eye-twitching-mouth-gaping-'oh-my-god' horror.

"Now, as I was saying," Shen continued. "Y-" and she went off after another butterfly, this one a baby blue color.

"Oh for the love of the gods!" Shen griped. "Do I have to sought out and annihilate every last insect in this forest just so you will _pay attention to me?_" He stormed up to her, yanking the kitten away from the insect by her tail. He then proceeded to croak angrily at the confused little insect fluttering tauntingly in front of his eyes. And he chased it.

Kurisu just sat there and stared as Shen dashed back and forth through the flowers, knife extended like some sort of psychopath (the fact he was shrieking at the butterfly only added to that factor), until he finally cornered the bug into a small rose. He advanced towards the creature, ready to plunge a knife into it – and he slipped in the wet mud and landed hard on his back. He glared venomously as the insect triumphantly glided off to a nearby tree.

"Guess you're not immune to the terrain either, huh," Kurisu snickered.

"Oh, shut up."

"Is he alright?" The voice wasn't concerned, but greatly amused at seeing her chick laying in a flower bed with his feet clumsily up in the air. She strode forward with a small glass of just brewed tea, taking a seat under the plum tree.

"He's fine," the kitten giggled. "He was just playing with butterflies and da' poor baby tripped."

"Shut up, I said!" Dizzily, the peacock staggered to his feet. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the spots from his vision, and the grass from his feathers. "I'll get that stupid butterfly eventually.." He glowered when the two ladies chuckled.

"Hm, for now kitten, why don't we try different training?" He rolled his eyes, but gave a fond smirk when he saw the teen was by the plum tree, hanging from one branch with a mouthful of juicy plum.

"What kind of training? Oh – sparring? I can show ya some of my moves!" She hopped off the branch, eagerly scurrying to him and handing out an already half eaten slight saliva covered plum. He backed away and held a wing up with a 'uh, no thanks – I'm good.'

"Yes, yes, your moves; I recall some from the Jade Palace." He stood, brushing the last blades of grass off his chest (although unbeknownst to him, he'd have way more in a few minutes and there wasn't a point in trying to rid himself of them.)

"Come at me, then!" He snickered, remembering that was the line that started all of this just – wow, was it already two weeks ago?

Throwing down the carcass of fruit, Kurisu leaped up in the air, directly in front of the sun. Shen blinked in confusion, steeling himself for the cat's blow and getting into a fighting stance. At the last second, she curled her legs up, and he got the full blinding rays of the sun.

Cheap move! He stumbled back at the force of her kick, hissing at the low blow that he certainly less than expected. He dodged another kick, grabbing the kitten by her paw and twisting her onto the ground. While she was down in the grass, she sweep kicked him, and he quickly retaliated.

Shen performed a few kicks as high as the kitten's – higher, she noted to her annoyance. He seemed to know it too, smirking away in that usual cocky way he did. Oh, how that kitten would love to strip that bratty peacock of his pride at least for once! Knock him off his pillar of might and greatness. Wipe that stupid smile off his face...

The most devilish grin slowly crossed her face, as a plan eviler than the devil himself hatched in her mind. Or, perhaps...she could widen that smile. It would be perfect; it would be the meanest most wonderful plan and it would strip that peacock of all his pride and dignity that he was so diligent of keeping and showing like the world's greatest treasure.

The question, however was...was he even...?

She had to be as subtle as a...a...well, a cat. Performing a graceful turn with an even more beautiful and dainty kick, she sidestepped beside him slightly, waited for him to make his move. He closed his eyes, feathers fanning up slightly as he rolled up onto the balls of his feet-

-and she promptly brushed her tail across the bottom of his foot.

Shen had always been quick, and in past spars bested anyone at nearly everything just because of his speed – but he didn't wipe off the expression on his face fast enough! Eyes slightly bulging, body and feet tensing as he hopped back in shock to her sneaky little move. He glared fiercely at her, as if warning her if she did that again consequences would be dire – and would probably cost a pretty blue head.

She was just getting started though. Now knowing of the peacock's hidden weakness, there was no point or time to be subtle; he'd probably FLEE for the hills at realizing what she was doing. She leaped on him before the bird had a chance to yelp in surprise as he crashed to the ground. She pinned him firmly, having years of practicing how to restrain someone much stronger than her, thanks to Po.

"Kitten," the peacock tried to furiously snarl. It only came out in a hilariously panicked and slightly higher tone than usual. "Get off me now before I impale you through your little blue eyes!"

She sat there, drumming her fingers on his stomach, pretending to think. She grinned when he visibly twitched side to side underneath her tummy tapping fingers.

"Oh, will you now?" She looked at him, smiling slyly, resting her chin in her paw.

Not one soul in the entire city – or world would have the gal to do this, to be this brave (or probably stupid). One glare like the glare Shen was giving her now would probably send even the mightiest warriors scurrying off with a trail of urine all that's left behind. Unfortunately for Shen, he had played the 'I'm going to kill you/stab you/shred you/etc' card far too many times, and the girl simply didn't take him seriously, knowing now that he wouldn't ever hurt her. (Minus the world's worse switching.) He didn't intimidate her; he didn't make her nervous; she was completely comfortable and affectionate with him now.

"You don't scare me," the kitten said with smirking honesty. She dug her fingers into his feathery belly, giggling when his eyes bulged and he squeaked. She pinned him harder to the grass.

"Nana, where all is he ticklish?"

Shen shot a desperate look towards his only hope of survival, silently pleading with his Nana, hoping he was conveying the emotions through his mind. This was it: she decided his fate, whether he lived or die. (No, he had no idea how dramatic he was being, but being tickled was worse than death in his eyes.)

The old goat had a choice: to show her chick mercy and not respond – or better yet help him up and out of this madness! - or to finally find the cruelest way to get back at him for everything he caused her over the years from hatchling to now. It was all up to her, and she – she gave a smirk as evil and conniving as that kitten.

He was dead. He was doomed, and he knew it.

Unable to really point out the tickle spots on him, she gestured to her stomach and tapped her foot, smirking.

"Belly and feet is where I really got him screaming as a chick," the soothsayer grinned. "Bottom of his feet especially. If anyone ever heard him scream so loud – and like a helpless eleven year old girl with a bug on her arm-"

"_Nana!_" Shen was beyond embarrassed now. "Shut _up_ you old-!" He bit his tongue. Yes, yes, lovely and perfect thing to say when that old goat was the only one that could possibly save him, convince the child to lessen the impending torture. Judging by the unimpressed look on her face, he had sealed his fate.

The goat nonchalantly strode towards him – and his eyes just _dilated_ in fear as he kicked and struggled and lost every ounce of self control all at once.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no, no!" Oh, he remembered it all too clearly. Being sat in the old goat's lap, screaming and kicking and laughing as her tickling hooves worked away at his belly, which she usually completely bared. Well, at least she couldn't do that with his robe on. ...What was he thinking, she'd find a way.

The goat took a seat beside the thoroughly amused kitten, just by his left side. She raised her hooves over his stomach, and Shen could have sworn his airways completely closed, every muscle in his body tensing.

"'Shut up, old goat,' huh?" his Nana repeated, deliberately keeping her hooves just _inches _away from his skin to torment him with the anticipation. "I think you need to be reminded of your etiquette lessons, my dear." A hood barely brushed against his belly. "And punished for ignoring them."

Shen almost shrieked, his entire body jumping with concealed laughter.

"I'd prefer the switch! I'd really prefer the switch!"

"I'm so sorry to say that that is not up to you," she snickered as she kept tickling. "Though that would benefit you as well."

"Nana!" He felt her start to tickle faster; those hooves were pro ticklers, having many years of experience with him. They knew just how to get him; all his spots, what ways to tickle, and what sort of technique killed him the most. To make matters worse, he could feel the unbearable sensation of Kurisu's tail innocently flicking against his feet, cleverly getting the tip of her tail into the casing of his metal talons. His casings protected and covered most of his feet, but cut off right where the most sensitive area was.

The worst part of this was he had no defense. He could easily get a foot full of the kitten's tail with his feet, but it was inevitable he'd puncture her pretty bad. Something that – looking back now, he hadn't hesitated to do when he first captured her – but something he wouldn't even let cross his mind now.

He wanted to snarl at these two, but he'd really risk bursting into unstoppable laughs if he opened his mouth to do so. The peacock struggled and kicked, this torture becoming increasingly unbearable. He clawed desperately at the ground and tried to grab something for leverage, shrieking as the kitten plunged her paws under his wings and tickled rapidly; he shot his arms back to his side immediately.

"Augh! You horrible brat!" He watched her look up from tickling him for a second and then fiercely attacking his sides, causing him to further yelp. Between that and Nana tickling him – and with super skilled and experienced hooves too – he was seconds away from finally giving in to the increasingly welling laughter.

"We got him," Kurisu cackled, rapidly scribbling her fingers over his stomach. The soothsayer grinned sinisterly and nodded.

His endurance spent and turned to mush, he finally let out a loud howling laugh, and as he suspected, couldn't stop the rest from following suit.

"No - _no_- kitten-! Nana – ahahaha!" Still held down firm, he bucked in desperation, his left foot kicking and fighting to get the tip of the girl's tail out of the metal casings and away from his completely unprotected skin. That failed and so did the attempt of knocking Nana off his belly; he merely twisted around to bury his face into the grass to futilely attempt to muffle his loud laughing wails as the ruthless tickle attack – or better worded to him 'torture' – continued.

Ugh, it was inevitable that the gorilla guards heard that, and Shen knew he'd have to lower his head to hide the flush as they'd hide their laughter when he and the goat and kitten walked back into the door.

Laughter! Now there was a word he wished he'd never heard!

"N-hahahahahaha-no! O – AHAHA - kay - !" the peacock coughed and choked out between laughs. "Enough!" He let out a loud and nearly girlish squeal as he felt the two women quicken their pace. _Squealed.._He wanted to kill himself. Or better yet,

_Oh gods of mercy, Li, come back to life so you can chop my head off with that axe!_

Laughing with the distressed peacock, both girls retracted their fingers; hooves, and tail and stepped back, finally letting Shen take in a long much needed breath. He gave a few gasping pants, coughing and letting out an occasional hiccup slip out as he tried to regain whatever small shard of dignity that remained in him. He coughed a bit, body much too weak from the constant struggling and laughter to be able to push himself up. He just lay there in the flowers, looking up at the kitten and goat. They were still smirking; Shen tensed and braced himself with wide eyes.

But Kurisu only turned to their smiling nanny and laughed. "Well, that was fun. I'm hungry; that really took it out of me."

"Took it out of _you?_" Shen roared from below them. They ignored him, brushing the grass off their clothes and starting to walk off.

"There's some chow mein still left over, do you want any Shen?" the soothsayer asked, her voice still giggling as she looked down at her twitchy chick.

"No, I'm good; I'd rather...stay and stare at the clouds," he stammered, embarrassed, not wanting to admit that he was still not able to get up thanks to his weak limbs. They seemed to realize though, snickering as they made their way back into the temple doors. Shen just groaned and laid there, shutting his eyes.

-something feather light barely landed on his beak. Shen opened his eyes, they widened then narrowed when they saw the same little blue butterfly on the tip of his beak; it looked like it could be grinning as it fluttered its wings.

"Oh, what are you staring at."

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Gongmen City was not how Po and Shifu remembered it; it wasn't how they had left it at all. The arrived previously at the city to find it in despair, ruled by wolves and one genocidal mad peacock, unable to do anything to grant themselves freedom, forced under Shen's merciless rule. When they had left it, it had been in joy: the city once again free to live their lives as they pleased and comforted with the knowledge that their monstrous superior was dead. Now it was different – it was uncertainty. They weren't sure what to think; some seeming happily skipping down the streets or with their children outside, others fearfully wringing their hands in distress while looking out the window.

"Maybe they sense he's alive," Po muttered to Shifu.

"I'm not sure whether to hope for that or not," the Grandmaster responded quietly, trudging along the city pavement with the dependency of Oogway's peach staff.

"Shen's intellect is very high, remember," Tigress warned them. She shut her eyes at the remembrance of the canon fire; her anguished scream, Po launched on a catapult of fire in the sky- "we can't forget that."

"I trust your judgement," Shifu sighed. "I was not here to see it for myself when-" his ears flattened at the though of his student's near death, "-when _that_ happened. I did however see his fleet in the harbor, and I saw his army."

"If we're lucky, he might not have the fleet or army," Po tried. He grinned, smirking and doing a few confident Kung Fu moves as they walked. "I mean – I just _destroyed _most of his fleet. I was all like – kachaa! Kaboom! SKAD-"

"Yes, Po, we know!" Shifu snapped irritably. "Do not be fooled, Dragon Warrior: even if Shen's fleet is gone, he may still prove a challenge for us when we rescue Kurisu."

They were coming up to a food vendors; an elder pig seeming to be bickering angrily with another animal. What was it? The animal was taller than the pig and completely covered by a shawl, only one eye peeked out – the other covered by the fabric of the garment. He and the pig both straightened up instantly, mouths hanging agape, but only for a moment. (It wasn't the most respectful way to greet the Grandmaster and the greatest warriors of China.)

"Wh-what can I do for you, Grandmaster?" the pig asked, groaning as he attempted to bow on his knees; his companion already doing that. He cried out in pain as his ageing muscles tightened and inwardly twisted, causing him to rather stagger nearly to his face instead.

"_Please,_" Shifu commanded calmly, carefully straightening the old swine and helping him back into his bamboo wheel chair. "That is not necessary – you do not need to bow in your state."

"Forgive me, Grandmaster," the pig rasped, coughing. "But I did not expect you to greet me at my merchant's cart when I looked up. I – would you like to buy something? I mean, no, I won't charge you-"

"We're fine, thank you," Tigress said politely. "Could you tell us where to find.." She made her voice a hushed whisper. "L..Lord Shen?"

The pig, the warriors noted immediately, was more stunned than anything; he didn't even look horrified.

"So it _is _true," he whispered, and he turned to the hooded figure.

The creature's head was low, eyes unreadable for a minute. He lifted his head, still tightly wound in cloth.

"I – forgive me, Grandmaster Shifu," he began in a low monotone. "But I don't know where he is." He hesitated, looking at the warriors." What do you need from him?"

"My sister," Po said, voice ringing with rare authority. "She's – well, she's adopted; she's a blue cat about, "he gestured with his paw. "Yey high and answers to the name Kurisu. She can usually be found chasing...bugs."

"Must be that girl," the elder pig said to the other merchant. He turned back to the warriors. "She was at the festival the other day. Or at least, we saw her passing through. She never came here again though; we have no idea where she went."

Po and Shifu exchanged worried glances.

"She-she must have been trying to escape," Po sniffled, and Shifu sighed when he saw him starting to cry again. "And that peacock grabbed her!"

The merchants looked at each other, troubled.

"We don't know. I've heard rumors though," the pig said; "rumors that he lives beyond _Dao-ming _Forest and in the mountains somewhere. You might find your sister there. I wish you all luck, Masters." He bowed, coughing as he did so, and the other merchant straightened him again, before bowing himself.

"Thank you," Po said fiercely. He turned and led his fellow warriors on without another word, moving swiftly up the steps where The Tower Of The Sacred Flame once stood.

"-Slow down, Po, we're coming!" Shifu was at his side within a second.

The panda scrubbed at his dewy eyes with the back of his paw. He turned and frowned to Shifu.

"Slow _down?_" the panda demanded. "Master, we've lost a week and a half's worth of valuable time thanks to that snowstorm before! For all we know, Kurisu could be-be.." He trailed off as his eyes filled with more tears, that quickly flashed with hateful acid. "He could have done something to her already!" He stood up straight, eyes fierce and full of un-contained rage.

"But he won't get away with it... And I mean, for all we know Kurisu could be crying in a cold moldy cell _right now!_ We don't have time for slowin' down; he could be hurting her.." He swallowed, almost the scared to say the words. "Torturing her.."

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"Alright Shen, ya feathered butt _rat_ - you're goin' _down!_"

"Oh, am I?" he intoned in amusement. "I think not, you insolent blue fluffy squirrel."

"_Squirrel?_"

"You aren't much bigger than one!"

The soothsayer just sighed and sat there as they exchanged numerous verbal jabs and insults, finding much more enjoyment in tormenting one another then they did actually physically fighting and training. It had been like this all day, 'later, rinse, repeat' as the two would mercilessly pick one one another until one enraged the other enough that they'd finally throw a kick or a punch – before promptly starting the process all over again.

"You two, will you just _actually_-"

"-I wouldn't eat so much plums there kitten, you're already bursting out of that kimono."

Well, that outta do it.

The soothsayer ducked under a quilt, squealing as shadows of plums pelted where she was sitting - from Shen easily ducking every furious throw in a mere second. She yelped, glaring at 'her kids' as a plum smacked her hard in the middle of the nose.

Shen glanced back a bit sheepishly and apologetically, looking like he was about to say something to his angry nanny when the kitten pounced on him in rage.

For the next frenzied moments, different sounds were heard and most coming from Shen as he writhed under the kitten and grappled helplessly with her. Loud yelps and 'ouch – get off me!' as she probably ripped at his feathers or did something else to horribly mutilate him; a loud laughing howl as she gave him a few fierce jabs to the belly, and finally he launched her off him with his feet.

The soothsayer blinked and scrambled out just in time as her younger surrogate child rolled up to her feet, looking angry as she sprung back up instantly.

Shen straightened his robe, trying to regain some composure at the embarrassing reality that he was once again just beaten up by a little girl.

"Now look," he growled. "When I suggested we train today this is _not_ what I had in-"

She tackled him, hard, and they both stumbled backwards into the waterfall. The soothsayer held up her blanket for coverage as the water sprayed, laughing.

They both emerged, still locked in that weird grappling position as they climbed out of the spring and back up to land. This time after a few loud minutes, Shen was triumphant, holding the kitten by her tail.

"Put me down, ya ugly chicken!" The kitten grinned as his feathers flattened in irritation. Despite having grown to care deeply for the peacock emperor, 'ugly chicken' had remained her favorite nickname.

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, kitten. There's a band of crocodiles in a river not far from here and I'm sure they'd enjoy having you for dinner. Starting the meal with that jabbering mouth of yours."

Kurisu opened her mouth to retaliate. She was balancing between a 'oh, thank you, yes I do taste lovely – tell the crocs I'd enjoy coming' and a just plain 'you are so dead once I'm free.' She never had a chance to decide though.

Because just then a black and white blur slammed into them both, knocking them off their feet.

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_(Okay, long chapter is REALLY long._

_So, for those of you that read my fics you know that a tickling scene - usually on the most stoic and cranky character - is inevitable. (I can picture Shen's belly and bare feet being his tickle spot XD) I'd like to thank my friend for making a comic based off the tickle attack_

_Now I know the chapter is long, but I was told by some reviewers that they loved the long chapters, so...therefore 13 pages XD Enjoy_

_.com/art/AT-Weakness-215094111 See this link for a comic my friend did of Shen's tickle attack. :D And see .com for art on "Redeeming Light", labelled 'The Kitten And The Peacock' I think_

_And thank you all so much for the reviews. I still have a few to get to from last chapter. Don't worry, I haven't forsaken you.)  
><em>


	10. Chapter 10

Redeeming Light  
>Chapter 9 – <em>Words Left Unsaid<em>

"Did you hear that?"

"Lord _Shen?_"

"So the rumors are true-"

"-he's really kidnapped that little girl?"

"I saw her – she was at the festival-"

"-isn't she imprisoned? Why would she be here?"

"She must be working with him-"

"-yes, she looked awfully happy to be a prisoner-"

"-what did you say to the Grandmaster, Hu?"

The pig grunted from behind his cart in annoyance, trying to avert his eyes away from the pesky villagers crowding around his stand and badgering him. He began peeling and cutting up potatoes to make into a salad, casually carving away at the vegetable and completely ignoring the villagers' waiting gazes. Once in a while, he would toss the other merchant a basket of diced potatoes to put on the shelves, and – giving the crowd a wary glance – he awkwardly complied.

"_Hu,_" a mother rabbit pressed fiercely, an arm wrapped around her nervous toddler.

"I don't know!" the pig finally snapped. "My knowledge isn't anything more than what you all know: I'm only basing my assumptions off the rumors and the minimal sights I saw of the girl and the old goat."

"But we heard you," a nearby merchant protested. "You said that he lives past _Dao-ming_-"

"That again was an assumption!" the swine roared, banging down his hooves on his cart, sending vegetables flying into a nearby rickshaw. "I _told_ you that-" He broke off, violently coughing, and pounding at his chest.

In an instant, the hooded merchant was at his side, gently urging him back into his wheel chair.

"You're getting all worked up again, sir," he sighed, tightly gripping his shoulders with gloved paws and furiously swiping away at the unrelenting villagers. "I'll take you inside."

It was nearly impossible to navigate through the angering crowd still badgering questions of 'where is he, Hu? 'Have you seen him?' 'Are you hiding anything from us?' But the merchant managed to scare them off with an angered snarl that sent most of the villagers running; the bolder ones stayed and glared through the windows as the merchants made their way into their small house.

"This city, I swear," Hu coughed. "It's getting bad for my heart." He glanced over at his friend who was tentatively closing the curtains on the villagers, muttering crossly about what a grievance they were as he uncapped a bottle of medicine.

"Take off the shawl, boy, you look like a darn woman!" Hu snapped.

"I feel like a well minced squash," the animal muttered, letting his hood fall, and allowing his completely concealing robe follow suit to his ankles, before stepping out of it. He winced and clutched his chest.

Hu gave him a wayward concerned glance, his usual aging scowl fading as he sighed and wheeled over to the animal – who backed up a bit and tried to reassure him he was fine, and the swine rolled his eyes, not buying it.

"That slash still bothering you, huh – let me put another coat of medicine on that." The pig gave a disdainful glower as the the other cowardly backed up a bit, while trying to look dignified and avoid the stinging medicine by proclaiming that 'it wasn't strong enough.'

"It's the strongest I have," Hu said gruffly, pushing the angered animal down and having to pin him to the mat with a hoof. "I know what you're trying to pull here, boy, and it isn't going to work; you really are no different than you were as a cub."

"Yeah, and you're no different than when I was a cub either," he said with a deadpan expression. Immediately, the swine lightly pinched the irritated merchant's cheeks.

"Hey now, I let you stay with me, didn't I? I could have easily left you there for the vultures to peck at and I didn't."

"Sometimes I think I would have preferred that fate as oppose to having to put up with your bitterness," the animal smirked. Hu responded by merrily slapping the medicine drenched cloth to his wound and causing him to yowl and splutter from the pain, writhing to get his body out of range of the irritating cloth.

"What was that, cretin? I didn't hear you." The smirk faded, much to the other animal's chagrin. (But really, when did Hu ever smile?) He sighed and his grip loosened a bit on the medicated cloth, no longer trying to make his friend suffer, too lost in his thoughts.

"Thinking of the villagers, huh? Me too."

"I'm worried about what they're going to do." He flipped the cloth over and the other flinched from the vicious sting that erupted over his bare chest, muffling a howl of agony into a cushion and tearing into it with his claws.

"We have to do something," he gritted out.

"You know as well as I do that there's no stopping an angry mob, or changing the mind of such close minded cretins." (He liked calling everybody that.) "Besides, we have no proof that he deserves to.." The swine hesitated. "..Not...die."

The animal shook his head and sat up firmly, his crimson eyes smoldering with endless determination.

"They aren't killing him; no, they aren't killing _them._ At least, from my knowledge, the goat and some little girl is with him."

Hu didn't respond for a few minutes, only stepping back and surveying the animal in pride and admiration. He had come long way, and it didn't even seem like the animal realized it. (But then, that was always the way it was, wasn't it? The regretful sinner protesting against the claims they had repented, and never believing those that said it.) But Hu saw it – in his eyes, in his voice, and in his heart: the evident change that grew more apparent every passing day since the incident.

_He was never a bad kid to begin with,_ the swine merchant thought fondly. _And I don't think anything can sway his feelings for that-_

"Hu!" The animal was at the window, on tip toes on the mat and ignoring the cloth that was painfully sticking to his wound like molasses and just hanging off it; he was far too engrossed (and horrified) to care.

"The villagers are gone!"

"And good riddance to them," the swine grunted. "Now I want you to have a shower, boy. I think some dirt has gotten into that ga – AUGH!" He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence, as the other whisked him out the door by an ear, ignoring the pig's threatening snarls of 'I'm so going to kill you once you let me go, cretin' as he struggled in the grip.

"There – look! The streets are all bare, and-" He trailed off, and for once it was Hu that had to grab him and hold him upright (although he rather wished that someone could hold him too) as they saw the distant torch lights, heard the crowd chanting as they moved into the evening moon, further up the path of _Dao-ming. _Their chants and their feet as they crushed the rocks and leaves beneath them: the sound and calling of death; the murder in their eyes and the blood lust in their voice as they screamed.

"They've acted," Hu said faintly.

"What do we do? It isn't too late to stop them, is it? Too late to warn _them?_" He was already back in the house before the swine responded, hastily tying his robe and shawl and slipping gloves on.

"What – you think you can just go up to them and demand they leave him alone? Those idiots aren't going to listen to us!" But even as he said this, the swine was hastily tying a weapon belt to his waist, tying some hiking boots, and pushing away his wheelchair.

"M-maybe I should go, Hu," the animal tried gently. He didn't want to offend his friend by bluntly stating that he was much too weak, but an angry mob in a temple that they'd surely burn down, and not to mention the fierce July heat was more than hazardous to his health that was already slowly dwindling away to nothing in his old age.

But the pig caught the words that his friend was too nervous to let out of his mouth, and he glared and twisted an ear.

"You _are _going, boy, and so am I!" Before the animal could protest further, he had a lantern and was charging up the dirt road, entering the black forest, with his apprehensive ally trailing behind.

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She felt dizzy, in pain. Her ears rung and she couldn't correctly hear what was going on: just jumbled noises and bear and bird snarls. The sound of metal clashing was unmistakable: The Sword Of Heroes and Shen's sword.

Shen's feathers were fanned up, his back was arched in rage and he was cawing menacingly, slicing at the bear's fur. Po looked just as scary too, on all fours, all fierce and protective, and his teeth were baring. Kurisu didn't think it was possible for her brother to look that dangerous and nearly rabid!

"Darling-" The soothsayer's hoof, gentle and smoothing her fur. She looked alarmed when she drew back and her hoof was a bit red. She shouted something to Shen, who looked over with wide eyes and ran towards them. He reached her, but before his wing had a chance to touch her, the stupid panda pounced again.

Shen's patience was thinner than ice and it took every ounce of chi he could muster not to impale the insolent cub as he stood there over him, panting. Oh, forget it; that panda was going to die. He had given him no reason to let him live. He charged at the bear with the knife, eyes gleeful.

"_SHEN, NO!_"

No reason except for that, that is. He glanced back to see Kurisu held over the soothsayer's shoulder and silently pleading with him, her bleary eyes wide and desperate, but she was too disoriented to cry.

Shen looked down to where he had the insufferable fat mass under his metal casings, sharp nails barely piercing into the panda's neck in warning. He retracted his sword, but not before venomously hissing this,

"The only reason I am letting you live, you _filthy _black and white tub of lard is because-"

"-You find my stupidity amusing, yes, I've heard it," Po snapped.

The peacock lord looked at him as if he had grown nine heads and rolled his eyes, deciding to save himself the grief by not responding to the ridiculous statement. He instead turned to his nanny and Kurisu.

"Is the kitten alright, Nana?" He walked over, and the others didn't follow; Po still looked livid, while the rest of the Five and Shifu especially looked confused and stunned. Shen paid no heed to them and only concentrated on the injured kitten limp over his nanny's shoulder.

"She's hurt," the soothsayer murmured. As if the blood trickling down the child's head didn't clarify that little fact. She took off a layer of one of her many many coats and wrapped it gently around the girl's head.

"Get her to bed," Shen sternly ordered. "But make sure she stays awake until she's properly checked over for signs of a bad concussion." He said nothing to the bewildered group behind him as he tucked his sleeves in masterly and strode dignified behind his nanny and the hurt kitten. His feathers flattened and he bit back a snarl and repressed the urge to stick a knife in the panda when he heard him cry 'he's taking her to a cell – I know it!' Rather than turn around and do what would probably cause an ugly scene, he slammed the temple doors.

Po, Shifu, and the Five exchanged glances.

"I don't trust him." Tigress finally broke the silence.

"When has he given us ammunition to?" Mantis.

"Let's follow them." Shifu; he was the only one that seemed swayed by this bizarre display, and was the only one that no longer saw such mutiny and darkness in the peacock's eyes. Yet – it was his student, one he was still concerned for. (She was under the control of a former sanguinary bird, after all. He'd be out of his mind not to be worried – though he still felt the atmosphere and thought maybe there wasn't much to worry about.)

They entered the temple, it was beautiful. It didn't hold as much beauty as the Jade Palace, but was still old enough to hold onto ancient alluring charm, and the walls shone from the sun rays cast in by wide windows. They spotted the cell, cold and small (and a horror for those claustrophobic), but they didn't see the girl in it.

Shifu motioned for them to follow further down the hall where they heard tense whispers coming from a small room. As they figured, Shen and the soothsayer were there; the soothsayer by the kitten's side and tending to her head, and Shen hovering awkwardly above, silent and passing things to his nanny when she asked for them.

"What's wrong with her? What did Shen do to her?" Po's bold voice made them all jump; the kitten noticeably, as she was quite sensitive to loud noises right now. The next noise, a furious and loud snarl only worsened her sensitivity.

"What did _I_ do to her?" the peacock snarled, his feathers making a marvelous fan that just about knocked over his nanny and smothered the kitten. Kurisu whimpered at the painful noise, and the soothsayer sharply ordered him to calm with a '_ix nay_, Shen.'

"Shen did nothing to her, _you _did," the old goat snapped to the panda, who inadvertently lowered his ears. "You nearly cracked the girl's skull open – we're lucky you didn't!"

"I was trying to protect her-"

"From _what? _Probably just being thrown into the waterfall or something?"

"Actually, I planned on tying her tail from a tree," Shen decided to add with a pleased smirk. (He never got to do that, but it was still a hilarious mental image.)

"I heard him: he said he'd throw her into a crocodile _infested_-"

"It was a joke, you _fool!_" the peacock spat, "I'd never – I wouldn't – I _am_ capable of humor, you know!"

Through the drama and the shouts – and Kurisu's unmistakable whines and sobs of pain – Shifu had remained oddly silent; his eyes were off the group and were instead slowly taking in the details of the child's bedroom: lilies and pink and purple, and girly designed patterns on her quilt. He inwardly smirked when he noticed Shen's eyes drift to the pretty wall paper and grimace. No, this definitely wasn't his doing.

-Master, what are you doing? We finally reach this stupid city and find my sister and you're interested in the decorating of her room?" Po clamped his mouth shut when Shifu glared on his lapse of respect, and the panda looked around too. Instantly, he knew what Shifu was thinking: this was a far cry from the bedroom of a prisoner.

"I don't like the interior design either," Shen mumbled, and the soothsayer glared.

"It's the child's bedroom, not yours!"

"But why does she have it – a bedroom, I mean," Shifu hesitated; "we saw a cell-"

"She got sick and we decided the cell was dangerous to her health, so I made a bedroom for her; the girl helped me design it: we went out to the city to pick out things."

"The city?" Shifu blinked. "She went to the city? Doesn't seem a very natural luxury given to a prisoner." (He hoped no one took this the wrong way; he was very happy that his student had been treated well, but, this was, well...too bizarre.)

Shen kept his beak shut on the term 'prisoner': he didn't know what to say to them and he didn't know what the girl _was _now.

-there was a sound, chanting. It had the girl's ears perk up at first, and then had her whimpering as it got louder. The soothsayer's face drained of all color, she clutched Shen's shoulder tight. The other warriors just looked confused.

"Friends of yours?" the peacock demanded the warriors tightly; he tried to keep his composure, but they could still see his eyes wide and fearful; his shakes, and the way he visibly drew closer – no – in front of the kitten and goat as the demising sounds loomed closer-

-the door splintered open.

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She was on the ground again. She was in pain. This ground was different, ridged. The temple floors didn't used to be this ridged. Oh, it was the splinters of wood from where the door was slammed open (by a cut down tree). She tried to roll off the splinters because it really hurt her side – wait, when did she cut her side?

Shen fell hard on his back beside her, and was up again, squawking and snarling at every blurry moving thing that came near. They had torches, and her face was getting hotter and hotter; the blinding orange light closer-

-the light fell down, and so did the pig holding the light. Blood came from his chest and he lay there. Her face wasn't hot anymore now that the torch was gone.

The kitten saw a black and white blur waving frantically and trying to plow through the crowd to reach her. The angered villagers shoved him back and waved the torches at him. Didn't they realize this was who saved them?

The orange lights were blinding, and they hurt to look at. She was still sensitive from her concussion. The torches burned at her feet and she cried out, too weak and disoriented to struggle. A knife was thrown and the rabbits holding the torch went down. The knife only went into their legs, and the kitten immediately noticed that Nana was the one holding the knife. She had no idea that Shen had taught her some things in knife throwing, but it seemed that way.

Pain blinded her, although the kitten tried to see. She could faintly make out the peacock's menacing squawks and snarls as he lunged at every villager that came near her and Nana.

Nana...

The old goat was on the ground beside her, lying in a small shallow puddle of red that was coming from the side. The mob seemed to love stabbing at the side. Of course, all the organs were there.

Embers fell from the ceiling; it was raining fire. She waited for the searing pain of the flames to lick away at her, but something silky shielded her and Nana: Shen's robe. This was perhaps the only time he didn't complain about his priceless silk being ruined.

The mob was just too much for Shen. The whole city was there, minus two desperate citizens-

"Hu! Hu! Can you hear me?"

The angered yells from the crowd distorted most of their words, but Kurisu could faintly make out the duo's conversation.

"I – I can't get through! At this rate he'll-"

"Ready your weapon – hurry! Kill them all if that's what you have to do to get to them! Go fast; we have little time-"

"-I-I can't kill the villagers! They're annoying, but-"

"-please-! Try to make a path for them and get them out! I'll-"

And then the creature howled. The other screamed something in what sounded like a pained voice and it sounded like he said his name – 'Soon' or something, but she couldn't be sure because at that moment she blacked out.

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She opened her eyes, pleading with reality that she could be in bed or outside with her new family and playing. It had to be a bad dream, after all they were just tickling and laughing, right? But when she looked, she saw that Shen was bleeding and somehow still standing, fighting the villagers.

Po was there, and the Five and Shifu, and they were helping him. It looked like Po said something to the peacock, but she had to shut her eyes again. She opened them and someone was running to her with a knife – a pig, he looked a bit like Li.

She remembered when she was five, and back in her village when she was on the ground with the panther coming at her, about to plunge his knife into her. Mama grabbed her-

-someone grabbed her, but it wasn't her mother's paws of course, but a pair of wings just as gentle. They picked her up, carefully trying to dislodge her leg which she now realized had a board on it. She was wailing as he twisted in different directions to get her leg out, and hurriedly and regretfully he pulled her free.

She tried to lift her head and saw that she was cradled in the peacock's arms; Nana was slung over his back, looking limp but breathing. She lifted her head up higher and coughed as the smoke choked her lungs with foggy fingers.

Shen pushed her face back into his chest, breathing ragged and harshly.

"No – keep your head down, kitten."

She buried her face into his soft feathers and silk, escaping reality in the security of being there with him for just a moment. Like a frightened toddler, she burrowed deep into him and clung to him, feeling his blood mingle with her own, and Nana's as well. She tried lifting her heavy and sick head again and tried looking back to see if she could see her family.

All that was there was the ruins of _Dao-ming_ and the distant orange lights from torches that illuminated the angry villagers. She was too weak to shout to her family, but Shen pushed her face back into him before she could open her mouth anyway. They were out of most of the smoke now, so it was obvious he just didn't want her to see the horrors around them.

"I'm so cold," the kitten whimpered, gripping at herself to try and keep warm. They were in the July moon, but she was losing too much blood to be warm in the summer heat. She noticed Shen's skin seemed tight too, trying to warm himself. His wing was deep in her side; it stung, but at least it clotted some of the blood.

"Stay awake, kitten," he told her in the sharpest voice he could to keep her awake. "Hold on to me!"

They were at a rocky climb now, and the injured peacock bit back the whimpers as he fumbled at the small mountain. His grip tightened on her and Nana, and she sobbed in fright. He got mad at that too.

"No crying," he said crossly. "You're already losing too much blood – you'll get dehydrated at this rate." His wing tightened on her side and it hurt more, but some of the red liquid stopped leaking over his wing.

The child sobbed and only curled further into the peacock, too terrified to lift her head: she knew all she'd see was the wreckage of their home and see the axes and the torches and the angry mob billowing closer to their tails.

Shen coughed; the smoke- having come back from their torches - drifting in the forest air getting to him. (Maybe that was the mob's plan.) The smoke inched closer to his mouth and abruptly entered his throat and – and he started coughing uncontrollably, tripping on the climb. No, no, now of all times for his sickly albino-ness to kick in; he needed to concentrate on something else, on the climb. But it was no use. The smoke teasingly curled around his lungs, reminding him he was weaker than everyone else and that he always would be a weak chick.

He tripped on the rocks again, coughing more. His eyes blurred with the smoke induced tears and the smoke fogged out everything he knew. His grip slipped, and he fell towards a few torches, trying to protect Kurisu and Nana from the angry flames.

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"This was a bad idea from the start," Hu breathed out, trying to keep in control of his tears as he ripped off some bandages from his belt and tightly bundled the wounded animal with them. "Shen can take care of himself, and the others – I'm taking you home."

He trembled and found tears threatening his own eyes from the searing agony, but he shook his head and pushed the swine back fiercely as he attempted to stand, grabbing onto a mangled tree (from the mob that just needed to get out some anger), for leverage.

"If I have to do this myself, Hu, I will! You know that Shen doesn't stand a chance against the mob; you saw the size and their weapons – they'll be left for dead!" He sheathed a blade; it glinted and so did a ruby eye. "Well, not if I have anything to say about it."

"You're wounded-"

"-astute observation-"

"I won't let you – we have to go home!"

Growling, he fiercely ducked from the pig's reach as he attempted to grab him. He shook his head – no, Shen could be awful but he didn't deserve this, not what that blood lusting mob could have in store for him. He didn't know if the peacock had changed, maybe so and maybe not, but he was taking care of a child and had apparently let her go into the city. (No, of course that wasn't the story, but what did he know; he'd been busy harvesting potatoes in Hu's small garden the evening the kitten went to the festival.)

"Look, I-I'm doing this with or without your help, you old swine," the animal whispered softly, his voice muffled in his face mask, but you could still hear it shake. "But without will take longer, and I don't think we have the time for that." He was breathing heavily now, staring desperately into the pig's eyes.

Hu only nodded and took a wavering breath.

"I'll distract them. I'll try anyways. Go find Shen and find the girls; I assume they're with him." His eyes shone with tears and his mouth creased. "This might be good-bye, cretin."

The other swallowed hard, his eyes stung with un-repressed tears that he let spill and stain the fabric of his robe and mask. He didn't say anything and he knew it was probably true – he just threw his arms around the elder pig and held him tight. The swine stood stiff for what seemed like forever (time they didn't have), and he hugged back effortlessly, leaning his chin on the other's shoulder.

"For his sake, save his soul; I think he's well repented on his own, but we can't be sure. Save him and convince him that he can be saved and that there's people that care."

Releasing the pig, he nodded, slinging the weapons bag up over his back, and turning to Hu when he tightly gripped his shoulder.

"And please tell him I'm sorry for the way I treated him before, since I may not have a chance to say so myself."

And the wolf boss nodded, his eyes sad and determined; he tried to avert them away from Hu's aging gray ones, but the pig held his paw, squeezed it, silently saying the things not said.

"Xun."

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His body screamed in agony. His wounds crying and pleading with him to just take a moment's rest. He couldn't; Shen knew that. One second to sit down and he and Kurisu were done for. They'd be left in the forest for vultures to unceremoniously swoop in and peck at their remains. Or for the villagers to come and behead their corpses, raising their heads on a pike and parading Gongmen streets with them.

He stumbled and coughed more, trying to get rid of the fire's lingering smoke still entwined with his airways and sticking there. He didn't care about that at the moment. Finally away from the fiery danger (though probably not for long) Shen resisted the temptation to collapse as they finally reached the flat land.

He instead tightly bundled the kitten in wrappings – that she realized immediately were pieces of his robe. Didn't he realize that he was destroying his precious fabrics?

"Hm'where's Nana?" she whimpered, rubbing at her tears with her blood crusted paws.

"Safe," Shen coughed. "I-I hope." He reached a cave; it was deep and far from the villagers and in no range of eyes if he put her at the very back. He found some moss and fashioned small bedding, before carefully laying the kitten down, like you would a small baby: going down with her and barely touching her head against the moss covered rocky surface. She clutched tightly to a piece of his tattered fabric as he went to get up.

"I'm not going – not yet." The peacock breathed out, shielding the child with his tail feathers. He didn't say anything for several minutes.

"You're leaving, aren't you." Kurisu could see it in his eyes; he didn't have to say it.

"Yes; I have to. I'm not letting you and Nana suffer because of me." He sighed as he looked at the blood going through his makeshift bandages and knew it was too late to say that.

"They'll kill you.." She could barely croak it out.

"I know..." As he watched the tears pour from the shaking and injured girl's eyes like waterfalls, his still developing heart – dusting itself off after so many years of under use – cracked. He forced composure as he gently gripped the girl's paws with his wings.

"I need you to promise me something, kitten..."

She couldn't say anything at this point. She looked up, not even able to nod, but Shen knew she was listening.

His voice became a sad and broken whisper. "Promise me that no matter what you hear or see.." He took a few soft gasping breaths before he went on. "...You-you'll stay quiet."

"I – no – never! I'm not promising that!" His grip grew tighter, but still gentle.

"_Please..._

"...I promise," she sobbed.

He just smiled and nodded; it was the first genuine smile she had ever seen from him. A shame that it was under these circumstances that she finally saw it.

"I love you," the child whispered.

Shen was torn – torn between snarling that she knew nothing about love if she loved him, and torn by almost saying the words stuck on his tongue. He didn't remember how to say it or feel it – it had been too long. Yet, he needed to do something to show he cared, so as a result, he didn't stop the tears that slowly emanated.

"Good-bye, ki - ...Kurisu." There were so many words he needed to say and didn't know how to say or had time to say. All he could do was stand and start to move out of the cave.

She was just as fast, in a panicked state and not even registering her wounds or condition, lunged at the mouth of the cave. But Shen was faster; there was the glint of two knives as they speared towards her – she almost hoped he was trying to kill her to rid her of this physical and emotional agony – but he stabbed into her kimono and pinned her to the wall, before fleeing.

Her heart shattered and her stomach lurched with the remnants of her heart, but she didn't scream – she couldn't. Her mouth remained shut, the anguish enclosed in her throat. She didn't let a scream pass her lips.

To do so would be breaking the only promise she ever made to him.

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_(Not much to say other than the title was an inspiration from my friend Gianna, and, I bet you all didn't expect the new character. Recognize his buddy, Hu?_

_Okay, I go bed now_

_Thank you all for your contant reviews! I still have some to get to - the long ones especially. I love those so much, and I really have to thank my friend ForTheKingdom; he's one of my reviewers that keps me motivated to finish this story. XD Which reminds me, we're nearing the end. Oh noes!)_


	11. Chapter 11

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 10 – In The Moonlight<em>

_xxxxxxxx  
><em>

Amazingly enough, it seemed Shen's biggest obstacle was the moon tonight: it was execrable, and it seemed to be on the villagers' side, ducking sinisterly behind a cloud when he needed its light the most. The terrain was also not on his side, slick and wet and jagged; it seemed nature didn't like him either. Oh, and don't even get started on his lungs.

Shen was coughing hard still, the smoke far gone and he wasn't near the villagers now, but the remnants of the black fog still stayed wrapped around his lungs. His body threatened him with various fainting spells, but he managed to best them all. He stayed moving so he wouldn't slip into darkness. He had a feeling that if he did he may not wake up.

The orange lights were becoming more and more distant, until they were mere little specks of dancing orange, then looked like they faded. (No, if only; they wouldn't fade until they found their target.) The cave Kurisu was in was far from visible.

Shen's throat began to close.

_Don't think about the child, you idiot, she's fine! Worry about yourself right now, you made sure she's safe. You said good-bye..._

Another feeling twisted and churned his gut and heart into painful knots. He never got to say good-bye to Nana.

"Shen!"

The peacock halted in shock; it seemed like the gods forgave him and were willing to grant his final dying wish. (No, he wasn't dying, but he would...soon.)

"Nana?" It hurt to say it. The address alone meant so much to him, just as much as her. It was perhaps the last time he'd ever call to his beloved nanny; she couldn't go where he was going. She didn't deserve to go where he was going..

"Darling!" She reached him, sobbing, falling into his arms from her wounds and in relief. She clutched to him; he folded his wings around her protectively, attempting the first embrace he had done in...he had no idea how long.

He pulled her back, just enough to survey the damage done to her. The knife had cut into her side, but – thank the gods – not deep enough to cause mortal injury, or anything too serious. None the less, he tore off a piece of his expensive silk, and watched as its now worthless value dwindled away as her blood soaked it.

"Now don't try eating it," he huffed quietly. "It's all I have for bandages." She only showed the hint of a smile, but it at least made it easier for the peacock to breathe. His wings tightened around her fiercely when he heard the distant chanting, and soon, the orange light cast a glow on their faces once more.

He pulled back again, much to the distraught old woman's protest. He made her look at him; wide frightened eyes that no mother wanted to see, burning into her's.

"Nana, please promise me something." The second person he made promise him something tonight.

And again, this one was much too emotional and shattered to respond.

"Get yourself to safety, and when the mob leaves, find the kitten; she's further down by the forest in a cave. Get her to her family and get her home safe."

Finally, the old woman gathered enough will and power in her vocal chords to speak.

"B-but the mob won't leave..until they have you.."

Now it was Shen who couldn't speak; he didn't look at her either: he couldn't see the pain in her face; it would break whatever resolve he had left. After having the two people he cared for wounded, having to say good-bye when he knew he was walking to his death, his emotional shell was already cracked in many irreparable places and with little time to recover.

"But Shen..." she sobbed.

"Don't you dare, old goat," he cut in sharply, desperately. "If you cry, I'm gonna cry."

She gave a more anguished sob, and he trembled, refusing to look up, fore the annoying tears brimming his eyelids threatened to fall.

The soothsayer wanted so badly to force him to stay, or to come with him. Scream at the mindless beasts attacking him and fight them alongside Shen. Hurt them as badly as they hurt him – she was pretty efficient with a knife after all, thanks to her chick.

But she knew she couldn't. This was Shen's battle, and as a mother she needed to let her child do what was right. There would be no more fighting; he was willing to give himself up. And if there was anything this mother learned about her boy, it was that once he set his mind to something nothing would stop him. Not until he accomplished what he thought was right.

And this time, it _was _the right thing.

She came forward, pressed her trembling lips to her baby's forehead, keeping them there as she stroked his feathers for as long as he allowed her.

And he never pulled back; he always used to, snapping that he was much too old for childish treatment such as this, but to do so would be as heartless as he could get. Doubtless, he was still unable to say the words that he needed to say, so this would be all he could really do to show he loved her. He hoped she knew.

"I love you," the goat sobbed, clutching to his tattered half torn off bloodied robe. She was pressed right against him, and in his arms. "I love you so much, Shen..my little chick," she whispered lovingly.

He shook harder and opened his mouth – and then the blinding light grew dangerously closer. The peacock shoved her back behind a bush with the hilt of his sword. She collapsed out of sight into the brush, and the torches passed her. He started running again, desperate to lure the villagers to the rim of the city and away from the kitten and goat. If he could get them far enough from the city, maybe they'd forget about the crime the girls committed of 'harboring a fugitive.'

He found another rocky side, and he hoped this one was more forgiving then the last climb was. The moment a foot ascended up a rock, he knew it wasn't, as the rock crumbled, giving way under his battered feet. It was far higher up – much higher up. There was no way he had the strength and will power for this harrowing climb.

The marching grew louder; the orange hot eyes of death did as well. He'd have to climb this if he wanted to survive. But really, was there a point? If he survived this and made it to the borders, they'd catch him there and they'd kill him. No, killing would be the last thing they'd want to do; they'd want him to suffer first.

He couldn't give up. At least this way by climbing and prolonging their chase gave him more time to avert them away from the kitten, goat, and the other warriors. Wait, since when did he care about the warriors? Well, he didn't really, but they were the girl's family after all.

He pushed himself to climb the rocks. His wounds screamed and pleaded for rest, but it was a wish he hadn't the time to grant. Yet, the peacock found himself slipping further and further down to the torches, that had all bound together to create a mass circle of fire. He couldn't do it..he couldn't.

He looked down, eyes blurring; the images around him distorted and the fire disappeared. In its place was a faded image, but one he could see well. The gentle and loving eyes of the kitten and old goat, gently urging him to go on. The picture changed to the distant memories (no, it only just happened, but it seemed distant and forgotten to him), of him and his nanny and the child when they were outside, playing, picnicking under the plum tree. He smirked, eyes slightly twinkling when they saw the kitten hanging off the tree by her tail.

And suddenly another image broke through the others, but it wasn't his memory at all; the image came from the smoke of the torches. It floated up and blocked the moon. It was a shape: a heart; Shen knew immediately that this wasn't just a coincidence for it to create this shape. He squinted harder at it  
>and saw that one shade of the smoke was plenty darker than the other, making the other seem white.<p>

And the other, light blue...

Eyes closed, he smiled and looked up in time to see a star shine a bit brighter than usual for a split second, as if it was winking at him. Shen didn't know who was sending this message to him, but he knew exactly what it meant.

Now fueled with determination burning brighter than those darned torches, he propelled himself up the rocks, never letting go for a second. None of the pain mattered to him, none of the cuts or surely broken ribs. He just had to get up that cliff.

_And get that mob away from his __**family.**_

Leaping in the air slightly, he changed his rock climb to a vine climb as he saw some sprouting just in his wing's reach. Good, this was much easier. The vines were soft and easier to grip; it was much easier to use his less destroyed feet than it was using his tattered and bloodied wings to climb.

But the vines weren't being very helpful: some of the leaves were dry and starting to break. Pesky animals seemed to have chewed a good portion of the foundation of the vine right off. The higher he climbed, the more that danger became pronounced.

The vine started to give away, and his pain set back in as he scrambled and cried out, grabbing at the decaying leaves in terror. He was to high up to really depend on the rocks for support; they were embedded in the cliff and none stood out for leverage. If he fell, he'd die. Too much of his tail feathers were damaged and a few actually ripped out to act as a balance as he flew. He couldn't fly.

The vines swayed more. Shen closed his eyes and could feel himself start to fall back into the waiting mob and waited for the burning pain and – and something took a strong grip on his arm. Shen didn't open his eyes because he was afraid of what he'd see, who'd be positioning a blade over his face. He heard the creature pant desperately, and something told him to open his eyes, so he did.

Instantly, his eyes flooded.

"Xun?"

The wolf hissed as he struggled to grab onto the albino peacock's wing. Shen noted immediately that the canine's fur was tattered and matted with blood and twigs. It was obvious he had been tearing up the mountain, probably searching frantically for him. Searching for him after all he did - _after all he caused his once best friend.._And he still-

"I can't do this on my own – help me _out_ here!" the wolf strained out a snarl, biting back a whimper as the force of Shen's wings pulling him stretched his skin and therefore the frighteningly deep wounds.

Shen shook his head fiercely.

"Let me die, Xun; I don't deserve your help and you know it!"

"I'm going to kill you myself if you don't help me and stop thinking I'm going to kill you or let you kill yourself by dropping or let the villages kill you! Help me before we both get killed!"

"...What?"

With a fierce grunt – and thankful that he found a deep crater in the cliff side: therefore able to dig his claws in for a better grip. Xun grabbed the peacock in the firmest grip he could. He was being yanked even further down into the abyss and it was hard to keep his grip. Regardless, he wouldn't let go. He _couldn't._ He wouldn't let go; they'd die together. If Shen fell, he'd fall too.

The peacock's bloodied legs kicked and scrambled at the rocks; he grabbed onto a drying vine (and he wondered why it was dry and dead with all this rain the province was getting, but of course nature had to make his attempt at survival _so _much easier),and he started pulling himself up with the wolf's help.

"Xun..I can't believe – is it really you?"

The wolf gave a small wry smile, never taking his eyes off the peacock as he pulled the vine and bird up the mountain side.

"Yeah, it's me. Whoa – hey, waterworks," he blinked, paws up in front of him in shock when he saw the dew in the corners of the lord's eyes. "Maybe you _have _changed."

"Just shut up and help me up!" Shen snapped, beginning to slip.

The canine sighed and lowered his glaring eyes as he pulled Shen up the final few rocks.

"Or maybe not," he grumbled, and had to barely smirk at his former lord's glower.

The peacock dusted off his robe (was there even a point, it was bloodied and barely anything more than rags that barely covered his feathered butt.) He turned to his long lost general (even longer lost best friend) and shook his head.

"Xun, how are you.."

"Kind hearted pedestrian saw me floating away and bleeding to death and decided to lend a hand – a hoof to be more specific."

"So it was a pig. Li?"

"No, and you're going to laugh when I tell you who it was."

The peacock lord's crown feathers quietly flattened and he trained his eyes on the ground.

"I don't so much feel like laughing right now, wolf. So just tell me who it was."

Xun gave the wryest of smirks, studying the peacock's reaction as he said it,

"Old mister Hu."

Shen's mouth silently twitched and he could feel the wolf's smirk on him as he started to grin. But he kept to his word; he didn't laugh, and turned to the wolf.

"That horrible old swine? How did that happen?"

"He is NOT horrible!" the wolf snapped, with such fierceness and such a fiery glare that it made the peacock take a step back in alarm. That comment tweaked him the wrong way; he was so sure that that swine was the most heartless person in the city, constantly making rude and snide marks and even wrinkling his snout in contempt at his own prince. He of course knew different now, and he knew who Hu really was.

"But, Xun," the lord screwed his beak up, perplexed with the hurt and defensiveness in the wolf's eyes. "You hated him too."

"I did," the wolf agreed softly, "until I truly met him and we reconciled." His ears flattened against his skull in chagrin as the peacock ignorantly scoffed.

"Oh, please, you dog; a bad seed remains a bad seed."

It took every fiber of will from the canine's back claws all the way to his baring fangs to keep from socking that arrogant avian in his beak, not just because of the way he was dishonoring the swine, but actually having the audacity to make the 'bad seed' comment when _he_-

_Boom._

The ground split; he could feel it before he saw it under his feet. It split with colors of blue and red, and the sparks burned at his feet. He could hear them scream as they pelted the earth; the trees; the rocks – exploding with a spectrum of colors that always seemed so beautiful..

If it didn't mean death right now, that is.

"RUN!" Shen; he could barely be heard over the deadly screams and whistles as the explosives detonated tree after tree, rock after rock – and nearly a certain wolf, who's tail was just grabbed and yanked back seconds before the rocket mutilated his face. He could feel the fire just inches away, and though he got splashed with white hot sparks it was nothing compared to what his fate almost was.

They took off, suddenly in a race against time (if they weren't already), as the land beneath them began to slowly crumble away, threatening to yank them down with it. A few of the rockets spiraled through the air, the rest tumbling into the new gaping hole that got bigger with every explosion.

Shen could feel it: they were on a slant now. And a dangerous slant; one that had a small rocky slide down to their dark demise of the abyss. One slip of the foot and they'd both be dead.

"Move, you dog – MOVE!" Shen shrieked, squawking and flapping with his tattered wings to gain some balance, all the while frantically shoving the canine up the rocks, amid his protests and 'stop – you'll make me fall!' Thankfully, the peacock lord stayed behind him to make sure that didn't happen.

"These villagers have gone mad!" Shen yelled over the roars of the fireworks.

"You JUST established that?" Xun shouted back, "_really?_"

"I knew they lost their mind!" Shen hissed back, deflecting a piece of debris away from them both with his sword. "But I didn't think it was to this extreme!"

As if to punctuate his last sentence, what was left of the small mountain finally gave way to nothing more than a million of rock shards floating in the mountain air. Shen and Xun didn't even register how _high_ they had climbed until they saw Gongmen and all its beauty, able to see all the way to the border. Shen's heart twisted and constricted when he could make out the cave the kitten was in. He tried squinting, tried to see her.

They were falling now, trying to cover themselves from the rocks that came down just as quickly as they did. The rushing air felt nice in such vehement heat of the summer, and Shen wished he could enjoy it if he wasn't falling to his death.

The ground was rushing up to them fast, and they'd splatter since neither were too much in the physical condition to perform some sort of impressive Kung Fu move to break the fall. Yet, Shen knew he had to do something; he looked over at Xun, who surprisingly didn't seem all that horrified; maybe the stupid dog was just too content with the breeze or too frazzled and dazed by the fireworks that he didn't notice he was falling to his death. Shen wouldn't be surprised if it was either.

He needed to act fast; his tail feathers carried no nerves nor pain receptors, but at least pain he could work with, while absence of a few much needed feathers for flight he could not. He glanced up at the long feathers trailing in the wind and knew it was worth a shot. When he fanned them, he blinked as he was halted and jerked upwards slightly like a parachute, grimacing as the sheer force tugged the root of his feathers a bit, therefore rather hurting his backside, but nothing too serious.

He soared sideways slightly – wobbling from the lack of feathers – and grabbed the wolf, rolling his eyes in deep annoyance when the pathetic pup clung to him, his eye wide in fright and darting rapidly around him.

They glided delicately to the ground; Shen had to bite back a cry of pain when his feet – the unprotected part – rubbed against the terrain and stung his wounds. He shook his head when he saw Xun was still clinging to him and debated on throwing the insubordinate dog into a tree or something, but upon seeing his blood soaked bandages, casually replaced him on the ground.

"You're bleeding everywhere, dog," he said, trying to disguise the genuine concern in his voice with disgust as he tore off more of his robe.

Xun blinked, stunned as the lord destroyed more of his precious silk – he remembered a time when he was still Shen's general, and he accidentally splashed the peacock while they tread through a puddle, and Shen had venomously threatened to dispatch his only good eye if it ever happened again – and he watched him destroy the robe without thinking about it.

"Shen, your robe?" He bit back a whimper as the peafowl un-gently wrapped the silk around his wounds.

"It's worthless to me now," was all Shen said as he tightly tied the fabric. "It was destroyed the moment the blood touched it and it means nothing to me; it's just clothes."

Xun just stared, contemplating whether or not to praise Shen for realizing that there were more important things than his robe ( a lesson the bird learned long ago), or just saying nothing. In the end, he looked over to where Shen's tattered robe barely touched his feathered rear now and smirked.

"You're going to be naked by the time the night's done," he grinned. This earned a smack on the head with the hilt of the peacock's sword. "Ow! Well, at least _that _was better than your old discipline, and at least you used the handle this time," he muttered.

Shen's glare faded as his wing lowered, and so did his crown feathers. Undeniable guilt filling his eyes, and he couldn't speak.

Xun blinked, certain that comment wouldn't have hit his old master that hard; it was just a joke and he didn't think Shen cared about what he did. But it seemed the peacock thought different.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I was just-"

"Never mind," Shen said, and not harshly. He continued up their new climb, and the apprehensive canine eventually awkwardly followed suit.

They slipped various times in the muddy terrain, not stopping for a second to break, despite the pain. Eventually, one did trip – Shen – over a log, causing his barely-a-robe to fly up and result in a smirking comment from Xun.

"You're going to be mooning the villagers, Shen," he snickered.

"Xun, I swear to the _gods.._"

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The summer air was smoldering, but she couldn't be any colder. Maybe it was the freezing cave, or maybe it was because of dehydration; she couldn't be sure, but she didn't care. All thoughts consumed by the grief of being alone, pinned to the wall by knives, and not knowing if her family – old or new – was alive.

That peacock – what was he thinking? They could make something work with the villagers, couldn't they? Talk to them? _Try_ to reason with them? Convince them he'd change? No, what was she thinking 'talk to them' – it'd be easier convincing the clouds to stop raining. (Which would be most appreciated.)

She bowed her head and let the tears fall; they mingled with the blood under her feet, and she watched them drip further down the cave. Her eyes closed; she kept to her promise and still didn't say a word or scream or cry (well not out loud.) She tried to imagine being back in the warmth of _Dao-ming_, remembering just mere minutes before this nightmare started where she was being dangled by Shen, and she tried to focus on wondering what he might have done to her if Po hadn't abruptly ended the fun.

Oddly enough, she wasn't thinking about the palace too much, or trying to escape from this living hell by remembering time with _them_; it was probably because she knew she'd see them again, and would probably not see Shen again. If she did, and if she went home, he _was_ coming with her.

But, could she convince Shifu to grant Shen a home at the-

"Kurisu!" Po; she could see him: he was there running around like a headless chicken outside the cave, stupidly not thinking to turn around, as he scrambled up and down various trees and rocks, shouting for his sister everywhere.

"Po!" Irritated, but much too relieved to show it, the kitten shouted to him, and he turned to her, gasping and running up tearfully, stopping when he saw the knives that pinned her sleeves.

"Did _he_ do this to you?" the bear growled as he pried the stubborn blades from where they stuck firmly in the wall. Instantly, once he threw down the last blade, he stumbled as a sting exploded over his left cheek. He looked up at his sister.

She still had her paw raised venomously, angry tears glinting in her eyes. Despite her concussion, bruises, cuts, and barely any energy, she summoned enough to snarl this,

"STOP IT, PO!"

"Wh-what?" the bear just sat there, still rubbing his smarting cheek.

"Would you just-" she sobbed and started to fall to her knees in anguish and agony, and her brother caught her. "Just leave him alone.." she muffled into his fur.

"Huh?" he smoothed his sister's blue fur, utterly confused.

"Shen d-did this to me, yes; he did it because h-he knew I'd go after him and he was right." She was shaking now, sobbing harshly as she recalled their final moments in the cave.

"But I don't understand it.." The panda continued to comfort his little sister, really just utterly baffled. He had seen it: he had seen the change in the peacock. Looking back now when he first heard Shen threatening his sister, he recalled the tone: playful, almost friendly. Not a hint of malice. But it didn't make sense; and the fact that the peacock took off with his sister to hide and protect her just topped that.

He had come to _Dao-ming_ in fear, every night spent crying over his sister, sure he'd find her with bones or nerves shattered, or just her corpse. Instead, he comes to find his sister has her own bed; her own bedroom; her own seat at the table; a family. He knew Shen had changed, but the man responsible for the murder of his birth mom – of his entire population, he couldn't believe it.

Yet, he knew...he knew he owed that peacock his little sister's life.

"Look, ya stupid kid," Po said affectionately, pulling the kitten back. "I really don't know how you got yourself into this – and more, got yourself into that bird's heart somehow, but...but.."

She looked up at him, blue eyes wide and tearful.

"...But I'll do what I can to help." Emerald eyes narrowed and determined, he looked out the mouth of the cave. "Wh-where did he go?"

The kitten's eyes sparkled and more tears flooded, but she knew this wasn't the time to be fawning over the panda's change of heart, or endlessly thanking him.

"Up the mountains." Well, maybe just one thank you. "Oh, brother.." She sobbed again into his fur, smiling as the tears rolled. Only now did it truly dawn how much she had missed him. "Thank you so much.. I've missed you..."

His eyes dewy, he pressed his heart shaped nose against her's.

"I've missed you too, kiddo." He stood; the frail child still cradled in his arms as he ducked out the mouth of the cave and back into the warm summer air. "Now, let's get you to Shifu."

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The moon was high in the sky, finally starting to cooperate with the two companions, casting its glow on different rocks and showing them where to go next. Once in a while, Shen glared up at the luminous orb when he caught sight of it seeming to dip behind a cloud. He seemed to smirk a bit when it came back out in the center of the sky immediately.

"Looks like the gods realize I mean business," he snickered, and Xun rolled his eyes.

"I know you love to control everything and want to control everything, but there are some things even _you _can't manipulate, and the moon, I'm afraid, is one of them," he snapped.

Shen chuckled coolly, casually making his way through the smooth rock trail, his wings tucked in what remained of his sleeves.

"Oh, you'd be surprised, you old dog; I can manipulate anything. The moon would bow down to me if it suits me." He grinned sinisterly, hoping to provoke another irritated eye roll from his comrade.

Xun wasn't looking at him, or listening; he just stood there at the edge of the cliff, paws at his side, a look of utmost horror on his face.

Shen smirked for a moment, then it changed to confusion, and concern; he leaned his head over slightly to look at the wolf, and also hoped to see what was causing the canine to shake.

"Xun, what is your prob-"

And the wolf jumped off the cliff, skidding down the rocky ledge, to the forest below.

"_XUN-!_" He dove after him, fanning his tail and gliding down the rocky side. "Xu-" He nearly crashed into a tree and furiously batted the leaves out of his wings, trying to descend the dangerous ride as slow as possible. Xun however paid no regard to his safety as he quite nearly _ran_ down the cliff.

"You horrible mongrel!" the lord snarled, crying out in pain as he slammed into the land hard. Pain jarred his entire frame, and he lay there; there was no point in getting up, and he'd just slam back down on the ground if he did while he was this dizzy.

"I swear, you dog – we just spent the past hour climbing that mountain, and here you-"

He stopped...and could only stare.

The wolf was there in the moonlight, crouching silently by a tree where a small mangled form laid. He looked so peaceful and calm; his eyes were closed and he couldn't seem to feel the pain, didn't realize their was blood streaming down his arms and into the cracks of his hooves. His chest was rising and falling, though far between.

Shen could recognize him, despite never having seen the swine since he was a young child. Despite never having seeing what age had done to him, how many wrinkles and bags it had brought; despite the blood caking him and covering most recognizable features, he knew who he was.

The pig opened his eyes; they were gray, but they were brown the last time Shen saw them.

"I...I tried to divert them, boy," the pig breathed out, his sad dim eyes trained on only Xun. "And...I...I sorta did; they didn't follow you up that second mountain...right?"

Xun said nothing, tightly gripping the swine's hoof as crystal-like tears spilled over his cheeks.

The pig weakly let his head flop to the side, gray eyes starting to close wearily once more. They opened when he realized the taller shadow above him. He looked up at the bird, and smirked.

Shen just stood there, unable to properly react as a small stinging pebble hit him on the cheek, and bounced off, back towards the pig.

Hu's eyes twinkled mischievously as he wagged a scolding finger to the peacock, his expression impish and sinister.

"That's for the frogs, cretin."

Shen could say nothing, watching as the pig fell limply against the base of the tree. Xun's breathing was erratic from his silent body quivering sobs. The lord wasn't able to tear his eyes away, and was grateful – whispering a soft thanks to the gods as the moon finally slipped behind the clouds, darkening the entire forest, and no longer illuminating the small creature.

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_(Not much to say other than you have to read chapter 7 to get the "frog" part._

_I tried to fit a bit of comedy in there, since the ending is super sad. (no, he isn't dead. But will he live or die? I guess you'll have to find out. ) And thanks to all for all the constant reviews! There's only three or four more chapters left. I wanna cryyyyy!)  
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	12. Chapter 12

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 11 – Inner Peace<em>

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"Xun – Xun!" He had done everything to try to calm the inconsolable wolf down at this point. Well, everything but slap him. (Something he didn't _quite _prefer to do at such a frantic moment, and when the wolf had found someone he cared for, injured.)

"Oh gods.." The wolf was hurriedly tearing off so much of his robes that Shen was sure _he'd_ be the one naked by the time the night was done! His stomach to shoulder blades were all pretty much exposed, and so was the cuts, and-

-and so was the stab wound. It was bandaged, but Shen still saw it; his throat still closed.

"Oh gods.." Xun's voice was broken, stuck in repeat. His tone became more and more frantic; the tears flowing intensely and over his blood matted cheeks, onto the pig – mingling with the blood covering the swine and the earth now stained an ugly crimson. He hastily tore just about his entire robe off and wrapped it tightly around the swine.

Shen sighed when he saw his hands were shaking. How much help did he think he'd be that way? He gently pushed Xun aside - not having the heart to do it harshly – and he bent down, calmly unraveling the robes knotted to the canine's paws in his struggles, and started about bandaging his once loathed enemy.

It was just about impossible to tell where the source of the blood was. Oh, that cut seemed big – oh, that one was bigger; that gash looked to be it. Or, maybe it was the slice on the center of his scalp – that could be it. (Where the heck did that – oh yeah, axes.)

The peacock closed his eyes, looking up to the heavens. Was this fixable? He knew nothing in medicine and healing; his Nana carried that liberty, never him. She had taught him some things, sure, but not how to sustain a patient who's just about been ripped open like a cantaloupe, with blood and flesh juices and everything pouring from him. There was no way this pig would live – not for long.

And Shen was stunned to find that he was moderately saddened by that thought. Maybe it was because the swine had saved his former best friend after all; maybe he just realized that not everyone deserved to die, no matter how bad they seemed to be – how hurtful and cruel. Shen knew that awful swine never deserved a drop of respect-

-but maybe he was wrong.

"Your insistent crying is not helping here, dog," the peacock told his canine companion harshly, though his eyes were kinder. "We have to get him out of here – got a...sling or something?" he asked awkwardly. A sling – really? Just how stupid was he sometimes? (He didn't want himself to answer that question.) They were in the wilderness after all, being chased by a mob out for their blood, with nothing but the clothes on their _backs-_

"Oh, Hu's knapsack!"

Knapsack- that works too.

Shen muttered a few things that probably weren't important and were just griping as he carefully lifted the injured pig, and unfastened the clasps on his shoulders, pulling off the bag. Xun, from behind him began to dump the contents from the bag, examining a few, and hastily throwing others over his shoulder without a thought.

"Ah – wait, wait!" Shen frowned at the wolf's idiocy as he picked up a few of the discarded objects, tucking them into a wing. "Blades, Xun; some of these things will come in handy for that mob."

"That'll puncture Hu!" Xun snapped back, exasperated.

Shen snickered quietly to himself as he sprung out a blade. Stupid oblivious Xun. (Though the lord guiltily cringed a bit when Xun seemed to wince himself as the knife came to view.) He went to work, carefully slicing into the first layer of the bag and creating a make-shift pocket; it wasn't very deep or big, but it'd due for just a few little knives.

"There," Shen said, slipping the limp and moaning pig into the bag, and pulling the ties up securely around the injured animal – but loosening it enough so he could breathe. "This is your piece of pork," the lord snapped, pushing the bag into the canine's paws. "Take him – my kindness is spent tonight."

Even in their current frenzied situation, Xun _had _to comment on that.

"It doesn't last very long, does it?"

"No it does not."

Yet, in a certain aspect it did, and with only a few people – the very few only people that could make the kindness fiercely locked away in the deep and vast secretive pool of his heart – show, and stay. The two people he wouldn't ever see again. Immediately, he pushed that thought away; he had to harden his heart for now, if he didn't and thought of them, then – then there would be no way he'd be able to function both physically and emotionally. And he still had Xun and that stupid pig to take care of.

_Xun, you stupid stupid wolf,_ the peacock thought sadly, surveying the badly injured wolf – who was pulling his own weight, the pig's, and gently lending a paw to Shen when he slipped. _I guess you really weren't kidding when you pledged undying loyalty to me..._

But Shen _knew_ better: every adequate lord – no (was he really using this term for he and the dog?) - _friend _knew when to let go. He and Xun grew up together; got in trouble together; got punished together, but not this time. That wolf warranted no punishment...and Shen's life was not worth saving.

_Especially when I thoughtlessly almost killed you_, he inwardly whispered, his already knotted heart tightening and constricting painfully. _I know when to let go; you owe me nothing, dog._

Following the wolf, he worked out the plan in his head: His main concern was getting the mob to the borders of the city – maybe the harbor. Xun could easily swim away with the stupid pig, and – with the mob distracted – it would give his Nana and Kurisu time to find the other warriors, maybe Xun too. He knew that red panda _had_ to have a heart – he did come looking for his student after all; it would be easy for the kitten to convince Shifu to let the soothsayer come along, and he was hoping - _praying _that she'd have enough sense to try and grant Xun a spot as well. The wolf was his former general, obedient and loyal, and protecting. The palace could certainly use him.

And with his family safe, he could finally surrender himself to the mob.

_It's fool-proof_, he thought sadly. Now, he just needed to figure out how to trick Xun to leaving him with the mob; he knew there was no way that stupid stubborn canine would abandon him on his own.

"So," Xun startled him from his thoughts, as he began helping the peacock carefully descend down the rocky mountainside. "Do we actually have a plan?"

Shen was quick to respond, working out all the lying details he rehearsed in his head.

"In three points: we get to the harbor; lure the mob there; and we jump into the river to get away. We – we don't have to swim all that far, but enough that we get to another piece of land. It obviously isn't that far – you can see a strip across the river."

Xun looked hesitant: swimming was not his forte. Actually, he hated the water, never was a very adequate swimmer, though better than Shen. (At least he didn't flail like a drowning chicken). Besides, they were being chased by a mob here – it was just about the only alternative they had. That or to die.

"And then what?" he asked hesitantly.

"We – err.." Shen panicked; he hadn't gone over this yet! "...Live our lives..in happiness?"

"Uh - _okay.._" The wolf rolled his eyes. "Brilliant plan you got there, bird brain."

The lord had to smirk a bit when the long since buried childhood nickname/insult resurfaced, but his knotted heart grew tighter inside.

_Oh, you stupid dog, if only you knew._ But he instantly wiped the pained look off; he couldn't have Xun growing suspicious, and judging by the wolf's rapidly changing facial expressions, that was already happening.

"We'll get some medical attention for the pig as soon as possible, I promise you," Shen muttered, not all that happy with the fact that they were lugging the stupid swine around.

Xun stopped to turn to him. He was neither glaring or smiling, his eyes were somber. He reached out and grabbed Shen by the shoulders.

"Listen, Shen: I know you're notorious for your grudges and hate to forgive, but I think it'd do your stubborn mind some good to know that _Hu_ was the one that was racing up that forest to save you. I came too, of course – but Hu - _Hu_!"

The peacock tensed, his eyes squinted angrily as the wolf shook his shoulders.

"But why?" the lord finally hissed. "That pig is – is-"

Xun let him go with a look of disgust, pulling the knapsack closer and trekking up the rocks.

"Because he's _changed,_ Shen," the wolf said icily. "A word I'd think _you_ of all people would be familiar with."

The peacock halted, letting Xun's comment sink in. He was right, and Shen knew it.

"Shen, look!"

The peacock peered down the cliff, he blinked; the villagers were gone. No one was there. They were at the harbor and it was completely deserted. Shen could make out foot prints; the moon beginning to slip down the horizon-

-but not before his eyes caught sight of the wired nets laying limp in the middle of the streets, waiting, almost watching him. No, Shen knew they weren't, but other eyes were. He caught sight of at least fifty bunny ears in the bushes; pig ears behind them too, and buildings and crates. He sighed. Did Xun see the net? No – he didn't; he was too busy looking back to see if Hu was okay.

So this was it then. Shen knew that there would be no convincing Xun to abandon him: his perplexing loyalty still too strong. This was perhaps the only way that he could get the wolf to safety and finally surrender himself to the mob – to his fate – what he deserved.

"There isn't anyone down there, Xun," the peacock said in an odd voice, and the wolf turned to him, then looked down. "I can glide us down if I'm careful." He winced, spreading the remains of his train and perching, balling up on a rock.

Xun's red eyes widened with concern, he steadied the peacock – no, he was pulling him back. Shen glared.

"Hey now, you barely have enough of your train left to call yourself a peacock!"

"I saved us from plummeting to our deaths, right?" Shen snapped back. "And I managed to glide just fine when you decided to practically _run_ down the mountain to that stupid-"

The wolf's eyes glowed with anger.

"-wonderful pig."

"We'd still be in danger of falling," Xun frowned, flicking Shen's flimsy train.

"Well now;" the peacock crouched and spread his wings. "Only one way to find out. On my back, dog."

The wolf stared at him for a few moments, then growled softly, climbing up onto the avian and clinging to his back; Hu still on his own. They probably looked like a hilarious sandwich.

"You're nuts," the wolf muttered.

"Granted." Shen took off; it was surprisingly easy to this time, maybe because his train already had a nearly featherless flight. Oh gods, it hurt so much more though; the mixture of the icy wind slicing into his wounds, and the force as he was yanked upwards. It was still easier this time, much more pleasant. Shen wished they could just stay suspended in the air forever, not having to worry about the mob, about death, about splitting up for the final time.

"Hey, we used to do this a lot, remember?"

Shen paused, then softly chuckled.

"Actually, dog, I believe it was the other way around."

Xun blinked a bit, then he started laughing. Oh, was that ever right; their younger years, playing and acting like idiots, prancing around the palace courtyards, and with Shen always insisting to be carried. 'You are my servant' the chick had said playfully; 'I demand you carry me.' To which Xun did.

The ground rushed up to them before the two realized it; Xun blinked as the peacock suddenly propelled him off. He cried out as he slammed into the ground, and suddenly flew up into the air, the ground getting further away the higher he went.

The wolf gasped, loudly cursing as he was suddenly face down, wires pressed between his mane, cutting into him.

"Oh gods!" He looked over at Shen, expecting the same terror, but the peacock was quiet, calm, his expression sad and -and he had _known._ He had known and he never told him – why wouldn't he tell-

-a blade whizzed; the same one that Shen took from Hu's knapsack. It sliced through the ropes and Xun was on the ground. The growing mob hardly cared, just about trampling him under hooves and feet; creating a circle of torch fire around Shen's net.

Xun was only focused on Shen's sad apologetic eyes.

"You bloody _traitor!_" he snarled at the peacock, pain filling his voice.

"Call it a betraying act!" Shen shouted back in a shaky breaking voice; "I call it a debt finally repaid! Now run Xun – RUN!"

The wolf tried to furiously yell back, but he was lost in the mob, and his shout was too – lost in their triumphant chorus and chants. Pitchforks were aimed at him, axes too. He heard a loud sickening slice, and watched half of a tail feather float to the ground, where a pig sneered and stepped all over it. The peacock closed his eyes and curled up. He prayed to the gods of mercy that his end would be quick, though he knew it wouldn't be. He deserved every malicious torture idea in their dark minds, and he knew it. The mob closed in.

A shout was heard – no, a very long battle cry from an annoyingly familiar voice. Yet, the voice for the first time was more than welcomed.

They flew down from the mountain side, and Shen blinked: they wore the exact same determined looks, almost the same positions they had when they charged at him in the harbor.

Shifu landed first, right in the center of the startled mob.

"Hold off the mob!" he ordered his students. "But do not kill them!"

Apprehensive looks were exchanged from every warrior as they stared at every angered citizen. There was no way they'd be able to hold off this number – well, of course they could, if they were allowed to harm and kill (it was for the sake of protecting after all), but Shifu had made it clear that that was not an option.

"Wait a minute, hwa-?" Po cried, and yelped, nearly getting his head lobbed off by an axe. "Master Shifu, we can't do this without harming them!"

"Well, you have to!" Shifu snapped back, lightly kicking a villager that charged at him with a torch. "And for the love of the gods – find your sister!"

Pure terror struck the peacock. The kitten was missing? _What?_ Where was she – he had seen her come down the mountain with the others-

"Shen!"

His blood froze rigid, his breathing stopped and it felt like something had just slammed his body into a wall. He wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like. In an instant, he grabbed Hu's blade and sliced through his own net, spreading his wings and injured train, fighting to reach her before the mob saw her.

She stood there, having just climbed a house rafter, clambering the roof and shouting out to him; she was injured and stumbling – Shen was sure he was going to die of a stroke as he watched her slip and nearly fall off the edge various times, sinking her pathetic kitten claws into the roof material, and yanking herself up.

"Kitten..." He inhaled sharply, the wind literally knocked from him. "**What are you doing up there!**"

"D-don't give me that look!" she called back, tears overflowing her matted fur and blurring him from her vision. "It's not like I broke my promise – I stayed quiet," she said meekly.

His beak curled back into a fierce almost paternal like snarl.

"I swear to the _gods_, kitten, if Nana still has her switch – I am going to **beat the-!**"

"_LOOK OUT!_" Po; he was down below, just under the house they were standing above. He waved his arms, green eyes bulged and frantic – what was wrong with-?

_Whish._ Shen only had a millisecond to react as the object flew to them; he grabbed the kitten, she cried out in pain as she was slammed down onto the roof, the peacock just about draped over her. He let out an agonizing squawk as it tore through his leg; he felt the blood already begin to flow, the barbs of pain slice deeper with every breath.

"Shen!" Kurisu gasped, she swerved her head around him, crying out when she saw the arrow sticking out - _of both sides on his leg._"Oh gods-!"

"I'm fine," he gritted out, wanting to wail as he shoved himself up off the girl, stumbling into a crouched position as he panted. "Now _you_, get out of here, before I DRAG you to your family by your tail!"

"You are my family!" she yelled back, the tears cascading down her face in rapid succession, staining her already ruined once beautiful kimono.

Time seemed to stop just for a brief moment, the shouts, the villagers, the madness, the fire – all fading into the background, muffled and unimportant as the two just sort of looked in each others eyes; both holding the same expressions and feelings that neither of them could discern just _what _it was. Through her tears, the child smiled quiveringly at him, and Shen moved towards her-

-and there was a light – it was bright red; it screeched and screamed as it slammed against the building. Shen's legs and feet exploded with pain like no other; his wings wrapped around the child as they fell through the gaping hole in the roof, rushing up to the ground and hitting it. He moaned softly, caged over the kitten, protecting her.

Another brilliant spear of light came through the window; Shen enclosed his torn wings around them both as the explosion sounded from right behind them, singing the back right off his robe. He glanced down through the blinding light at his sore feet; the casings had been blown right off him. Thank the gods he had those: had he not, his feet would be no more.

"Get outside," he wheezed out to her; "get to the oth-other warriors!" He coughed, his body trying to shut itself down as smoky fingers entwined in his airways. His eyes closed; he felt the darned kitten grab his wing and pull him from the wreckage. The beautiful and deadly lights brighter as the duo entered the hot July air.

All that was heard amidst the screams of the terrified villagers was the screams and shrieks of the fireworks as they began detonating the surroundings around them. Houses exploded on impact, flaming debris raining down through out the streets.

"Get down!" Shifu screamed, and the Furious Five and Po ducked down and covered their heads as a firework whizzed past them, tearing the foundation off a tree nearby; the branch fell and crushed a vendor's cart; the wheels and splinters showered the crew of warriors.

"Oh gods!" Kurisu gasped in horror, tightly gripping Shen's wing; he looked just as pale.

Every villager's attention was off him now; matter-a-fact, Xun was able to easily bound through the mob without being noticed, and up to them; he was bleeding and scorched, obviously having taken the brunt of a few explosions.

"Xun." Shen pulled the disoriented canine towards them, needing to hold him up when the wolf nearly collapsed; Hu still on his back, and somehow awake and still alive. "Xun, are you okay?" The wolf sank against him.

"Xun-! _Xun!_"

Kurisu shakily bent down, brushing some fur away from the wolf's bloodied chest to feel for movement.

"He's fine, he's just unconscious." And Shen instantly breathed out in relief. "Get him to - "

-another firework exploded, this one big enough to hurtle the three of them in opposite directions as the ground exploded from under them.

Shen slammed into a tree; his broken bones and wounds and gashes screamed for mercy that they didn't get. The pain was enough to make him want to cry. His eyes fuzzed and dotted for a few moments, trying to adjust and find the kitten and wolf; she was in a bush, conscious and trying to get up; Xun was in the splintered remains of a vendor's cart. Shen would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious: the wolf's head was in a melon.

Rainbow spears -sharp and hot and bright – screamed as they twirled through the air, making terrifying zig-zags as they went. Building after building fell to the ground; trees after trees were ripped off the earth, slamming into the streets. The mob was going frantic now, screaming in terror, trying to wrangle the deadly rockets before one more went off and caused another catastrophic disaster.

It dawned on Shen that he was in no real danger from this mob anymore; they weren't even looking at him. But Shen knew they were all in danger: if he didn't stop those fireworks somehow, all of Gongmen would be nothing but ruins, black and charred, and probably crimson bodied remains – the very next morning.

He plowed through the frenzied mob, blinded as more and more rockets went off; he narrowly dodged one that almost took off his head. The peacock frantically crawled up to the launcher, trying to remember how to stop fireworks.

That was probably – probably the one thing he hadn't ever practiced: stopping the fireworks. And why? Because his stupid stupid genocidal insane - _idiotic _mind never cared about stopping the explosions; he had just wanted them to destroy everything – to kill everything, so he never properly learned how to diminish a firework rampage. Matter-a-fact, the lord kicked himself in heavy regret when he remembered his parents teaching of 'what to do in a firework emergency'; the way he only sneered and pretended to listen, never caring at all, only thinking of the glorious disasters the emergency would cause.

"You – pig!" the peacock cried pathetically, pointing to a scorched-faced swine who was at the launcher; his head shot up towards the bird. "Get out of the way and let me handle this!"

The swine let out a frantic screech, almost hugging the fiery launcher as Shen whipped towards him. No way- Shen and fireworks did NOT go together. What – did the peacock actually think he'd surrender the launcher to him, just so he could destroy the cit – er, what was _left _of their city?

"Pig!" Shen snarled fiercely, desperately, tightly gripping the struggling swine's hoof. "I know you have no grounds of trusting me on, but I am _the only one that can save-"_

And suddenly the pig swerved backwards, falling hard, and landing just as harder on his back; the launcher flew up into the air – Shen didn't get a chance to grab it before it went off – the firework screamed as it spiraled beautifully through the air, and Shen found himself staring: (was it a coincidence?) the colors were pastel blue and white. It illuminated the mountainside with an enchanting glow before it slammed into it.

"Oh dear gods in the heaven," the peacock whispered hoarsely, watching as the mountain was split right up the middle. The rocks fell – some were puny and barely bigger than a pebble – others were monstrous, giant boulders, capable of flattening the city into nothing more than a pancake (and would upon impact.)

"Run!" he heard a villager scream, and torches were dropped; axes and knives were too as the mob went into a panicked screaming frenzy, running back and forth in frantic circles; their bodies acting over their brains, and not even processing the fact they should get out of the way.

The boulders had already begun to fall in; most of them into the sea, falling out of sight – thankfully, the bigger ones. A few of the smaller ones rolled into the city, causing minor damage, denting some houses, hitting a few villagers, but nothing too catastrophic.

"The boulder!" Kurisu heard a woman scream; she turned, still blinded by the rampaging fireworks, and saw the giant rock barreling down what remained of the mangled mountain, straight towards a small house. The woman was at the window hugging her crying toddlers, backing up in sheer terror.

Kurisu bolted to the house; she saw Shen glance back at her, his crimson pupils just dilating in _terror._

"Kitten - _KURISU!_"

The child tried to move as fast as the boulder, like she really thought she could do something to help (but that was a Jade Palace warrior for you: bold beyond their years and there to protect, even if it was futile). She clambered past the wreckage and into the house, standing on the window pane, prepared, flattened over it, as if making herself into a shield; the bunny family behind her.

Shen swerved back towards the boulder – the boulder that had slammed into and broken the newly built bridge. If this thing wasn't stopped-

The peacock charged towards the great hurtling rock, feathers flared into a fan, prepared; he saw the blur of black and white bolt to his side, whom he knocked back into the crowd with his train.

_Not this time, Panda._

This wasn't the panda's problem – it wasn't his to fix, and it wasn't him that should die for it, die for the mistake he caused. He couldn't send Kurisu home without a brother, someone needed to protect the child since he wouldn't be there.

Inner peace, inner peace – how was it done: the foot moves and arm moves, and – how did the panda do it? Inner peace, did he have it? Could he accomplish this? He remembered his father's words:

_Anything can be achieved when a master finds his path to inner peace._

The boulder was rushing up to his face, fast – inner peace, inner peace -he had to try it; his feathers flared, he clenched, he held his head high, eye level with the middle of the great rock now. His foot swirled in the dirt, his wings gracefully moved through the air, he closed his eyes-

-the pain hit him; it felt like he'd been slammed into an iron maiden. He dug his feet into the dirt, skidding back with the rock on him, averting its path from the city. His feet burned as the ground rubbed them raw; he lost his footing and the boulder won, propelling him into something sharp and hard, glass shattered around him from where he went through the window.

His back hit the wall; the boulder hit him next; he slid down the wall with the rock on him. He pushed and strained and tried to get out from under the crushing weight, hearing a very familiar scream as the blue blur tore down the stairs.

"Oh gods – Teng!" the mother rabbit called frantically. "Get bandages!"

Shen felt the boulder shift a bit, and it was off him, rolling out of the gaping hole it made in the house. He heard the sound of fireworks and looked up, since it was the only direction his head could go right now.

There was a hole in the roof; he saw everything clearly, the darkness was being overtaken by the emerging sun; the sky was a bright purple, birds chirped. The fireworks continued to go off, beautiful colorful explosions high in the sky, making patterns of flowers, rainbow sparkles that the city could finally enjoy.

_How ironic_, he thought, _that what brings me to the end of my life is what I set out to destroy the world with.._

A pair of bright green eyes met his own: a bunny toddler, carefully trying to wrap his bleeding middle with a few bandages; his mother was right behind him.

"He saved us," the mother continued to whisper in a broken voice, wrapping his appendages tightly. "He saved us.."

Shen's eyes closed, the pain overtaking him, dragging him closer to a darkness trying to pull him under. His eyes continued to flicker, fighting to stay awake. He felt odd: it was a very strange calming sensation, welling from the depths of his heart and soul, to his mind; his whole body tranquil. Inner peace.

How had he achieved it? Risking (probably sacrificing) his life for the city?

_"Shen!_"

Eyes still closed, he smiled.

_Yes..._His nanny's words echoed:

_Your path to victory won't ever be achieved until you find someone to care about other than yourself – someone to care about _more _than yourself._

To learn to show compassion-

"Shen?" Kurisu's voice caught in a sob, her paws gently cupping around his face.

_-to learn to show love._

_Oh, you old goat,_ the peacock thought lovingly; _you really don't ever steer me wrong._

The child softly gasped in horror, her eyes glued to his bleeding wounds in shock. She tore off more of her kimono and began hastily bundling it around him; he felt her tears soak his face like raindrops from above. A wing shakily reached out and curled softly around her arm. She turned to him.

The peacock smiled gently, his head was heavy. He just wanted to sleep...he needed to sleep.

About a thousand or more eyes stared in at them: the villagers – oh, the warriors too, and Xun had awoken. Nana was there too, thank heavens... The villagers exchanged glances; there were no torches now, nor axes or knives; and there was no triumph or happiness, only confusion and sorrow. The soothsayer was shaking, about to collapse to her knees; Shifu kept a tight arm around her to hold her steady, his other fist clenched, face distressed. Xun stood grimly, bitter tears lining his eyes: he should have been there – if only he had been _awake._

"Don't cry, kitten..." Shen's voice sounded so tiny and far away to him.

"Shen," the child sobbed. "Shen, get up!"

"I don't know if you've actually surveyed my condition yet," the peacock said in a slightly gruff and teasing tone, "but 'getting up' is probably the one thing I _can't_ do right now."

The child trembled and sobbed; Shen wanted to cry too when the girl practically flung herself onto him, his wounds once again begging for mercy.

"Look, kitten," Shen whispered; his voice thin with pain. He lifted her chin gently, directing it to the sky. "Fireworks."

The child followed his pointing wing to the sky, watching as a small firework exploded; it was blue and it was white. Her eyes drifted back to Shen, his eyes were closed, head off to the side.

"Shen?" she gasped. "_Shen?_"

The last firework went off.

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_(Now you are here  
>Again beside me<br>Now I can die in peace  
>For now my life is blessed<em>

You will live,  
>Papa you're going to live!<br>It's too soon, to ever say goodbye

Yes Cosette, forbid me now to die  
>I'll obey, I will try<br>On this page, I write my last confession  
>Read it well, when I at last am sleeping<br>It's a story of those who always loved you  
>Your mother gave her life for you<br>Then gave you to my keeping

_-Is what I was listening to as I wrote the scene I have waited 11 chapters to write._

_I hope this was worth the long wait! And don't be sad or assume the worst - things always work out somehow in Cryssy's stories _

_EDIT: OH, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PEOPLE - THIS IS NOT THE FINAL CHAPTER! Two more to go! Sheesh! XD)  
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	13. Chapter 13

Redeeming Light  
><em>Chapter 12 – Making Amends<em>

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Wherever he was was very bright. Shen could barely make out anything in his surroundings. His burned and sore feet – well, they were! - were perched on a beautiful patch of dew covered grass, un-injured, un-burned. He didn't feel pain, not his shattered bones (perhaps punctured lung), and a variety of deep and swollen gashes seemed to be absent. He straightened, eyed the sun disdainfully; it was bright and beaming – odd, wasn't it just a dim orange as it came up the horizon? (But then, who knew how long he was out for.)

An uneasy feeling twisted his stomach into knots as he looked around. The place was familiar, bright and the sky shined, and – and there was that fountain again, the gentle sound of water dripping in the background.

Oh gods – oh gods, The Plains Of Enlightenment? No, no, no – he hadn't died; he _couldn't_ die yet! Finally achieving inner peace, something he so diligently _needed_, and finding a true..._family_- and now he needed to say good-bye to that? What his heart had subtly worked for, without him even noticing?

The mist shifted, Shen turned; a form was slowly emerging (the tortoise?) - no, a fluffy tail extended and floated up behind; her white gown trailed over the hill. She smiled at him.

She was a perfect reflection of her daughter; it was like the young child – (his heart tightened as he thought of her) – was standing right in front of him. The same pastel fur, though the mother's noticeably a lighter shade – almost white - (could be the blinding sun rays too.) The same fur style, casually swaying in the breeze like blue blades of grass; the same wide and kind eyes that sparkled back. Although, it was a pair of chocolate orbs that burned into his, rather than the kitten's ice blue ones.

Shen stepped forward, hesitant to do so. The elder cat hadn't spoken a word since spontaneously stepping out through the plain's mist. She just smiled.

The peacock kept his wings folded in his sleeves (hey, he had his robe back!), dignified, regarding the woman with a look of uncertainty. (He was in the plains, standing in front of the deceased mother of the child he'd been looking after. To not be nervous would be an abnormal reaction here.)

The elder cat giggled.

Shen blinked.

"Oh yeah – you're her mother alright." He turned away from the woman; she was just as infuriating as the kitten had been in the beginning. Seeming to be laughing at him, kept staring at him -guh, it was a wonder how he'd managed to handle that insolent girl.

"My poor child;" the cat finally spoke, her voice a sagely chime. "You have had such a rough day, haven't you."

The way she spoke, and the address given – it was like she was speaking to one of her kittens. Of course, he had saved her child, maybe she considered him one of her own. Perhaps she was the one that gave that nudge to motivate him – the heart in the smoke from the mobs' torches.

"Not my best," the peacock finally managed to get out, his throat a bit sticky and uncomfortable. Though he had worse: such as getting his hide handed to him by a big fat flabby panda – cub, humiliated, nearly crushed by his own canon. Of course, being hunted by a mob, crushed by a boulder and killed, and parting the earth without a proper good-bye to the kitten and his nanny – and no good-bye to Xun didn't really qualify as 'a good day.'

"So you're here to give me some kernels of wisdom before I pass on then – to the place where I'm wanted and where I deserve to go? I expect no less of the kitten's mother." He paused, contemplating his fate; he deserved it, but gods, how could he not be utterly terrified to his damned soul about going to-

"You aren't dead, darling." Sakura's voice held pure amusement.

"What."

"I said you aren't dead -my kitten saw to that." The woman smiled gently; "and your beloved Nana, and the wolf, and even the villagers."

"What." Shen's voice was even more flat and disbelieving. The villagers – really, if this was that infuriating feline's idea of a cruel prank... The ones that wished him dead, wanted him dead, and were probably pleased when they saw – thought he was dead, and he was supposed to believe that they had saved him? Albeit – Nana and the kitten probably did most of the work, Xun too (although the wolf wasn't as experienced in medicine as the two girls were.)

"Why am I here then?" Shen tried not to snap, figuring he deserved the mother of the child a bit of respect, but his eyes clearly read 'how dare you scare me like that!' He turned away from her, eyes directed back to the fountain in the middle of the plains. He walked to it, his eyes seeking the same vivid pictures that were in the water before: his nanny, the child, maybe Xun too, he needed to see them.

Sakura smiled, surveying his hopeful expression as he leaned into the fountain far enough to fall in it; he looked lost and sad, seeming to be certain that he'd once again see his family in the fountain water. Nothing but clear water and his reflection – and – and another reflection, blurred and a darker blue; his marvelous train fanning over him; Shen felt the wind from it. He closed his eyes.

_Dear gods.._. Breathing heavily, surprised he was still breathing, the peacock kept his eyes closed as his father laid a loving wing on his shoulder; he didn't see the peahen's face come into the picture either.

"Son.." Lord Jin's voice didn't hold a trace of anger, but it couldn't sway the terrified peacock to open his eyes. "Son, please look at me."

Shen shook his head; the sound of his father's voice made his heart convulse in misery in his chest, made his entire body ache in grief and remorse and guilt. He trembled, only stopping when he felt the blue feathers (his mother or his father?) soothingly rub over his crown. Finally, Shen opened his eyes.

Lord Jin's eyes weren't accusing, weren't glaring with a hurt 'how could you do this to us?' look, but – it struck Shen in the heart with confusion at just how _proud _they looked to be. His mother's held the very same.

Shen looked around for the feline, but she was nowhere in sight. It was just him and his parents; he started breathing heavily, panicking, hyperventilating, and wondered if the fountain water was deep enough to drown himself in it. Maybe it was, and he'd finally go to the place where he belonged (it honestly looked like rolling in a pile of daises compared to seeing his parents right now.)

"Shen," his mother; "calm down."

Calm down? Calm down? He wanted to laugh – maybe cry too, calming was the easiest thing to do right now, surely, standing in front of his parents – his parents he shamed, he scorned, he dishonored, he hurt beyond repair – to the point of dying from their sadness _he caused_- yes, calming down was simple. Just plain simple.

He must have begun to fall backwards, because his father's wing was on his back to steady him and he was on a slant. But his eyes didn't feel heavy and he wasn't dizzy. For once, Shen was actually enraged that the graceful plains had prevented his terribly weak immune system from acting up and causing him to collapse from fear, shock, and his wounds (which were annoyingly absent right now, and couldn't serve as a good excuse.)

"Shen." His father; he still sounded gentle and patient, not at all angry, still trying to coax his child to look at him, which wasn't really working.

The younger peacock just wanted to run away, he didn't know how far he could get on these plains. Maybe they just stretched and stretched endlessly, and he'd only end up in circles, so was there even a point to trying to take off?

His father gently gripped his shoulders again; Shen panicked and tensed, too frightened to struggle, acting as if it was the god of death that had him in its grip, rather than his loving Baba. Lord Jin spun him towards him; Shen braced and waited for the slap.

"My son.." His father's tone never wavered from the undeniable compassion; he smoothed a wing over Shen's crown. "You have made us proud."

Okay, his old man had gone senile, definitely senile. That or maybe that feline _was_ playing a prank beyond cruel to him, and this wasn't his father.

But it was. Those eyes were unmistakable.

"...What?" Shen finally croaked. "Have you lost your mind, father?" Surely he had; it would be inevitable at the elder peacock's age, and probably the prolonged grief, fore there was _no_ reason the peacock had to take pride in his genocidal son.

"Now what would make you say that, my boy?" Shen's feathers flattened; his father sounded so amused.

The blue peacock took a step closer to his son, still gently smiling. His eyes were teasing and playful, but his father's leniency and toying was only infuriating the younger peacock more. Why wasn't he upset? He had tried to – tried to destroy the world basically, and murdered his former master (and his father's subordinate) in cold blood, and gods – the list could circle and cover the entire world thirty times, he guessed.

"Look at what you have done..." Lord Jin's wings laid gently against his son's shoulders, his smile sincere, clarifying that he was not referring to Shen's past unspeakable sins.

"I grabbed a boulder," Shen croaked, looking away. "Whoopie, any Kung Fu master can do that."

Lord Jin's grin became firmer, but still gentle; he lifted the peacock's chin, making him look at him. "Son, you know what I mean.."

The younger peacock's eyes closed tight, desperately trying to contain the infuriating tears that he would not allow himself to shed (but once again, the Plains Of Enlightenment made that _anything_ but easy.) He couldn't cry – couldn't shame his parents anymore, if that was possible. They couldn't mean that; surely one small act of redemption was not enough to sway them of the certain hatred they always felt for him.

He heard a sound. Nervously, he peered up. His father was crying.

Shen just stared; Lord Jin did not cry; it was something that Shen took after his father, neither shed a tear, even when the situation called for it the most. If Shen was having trouble holding back tears _before..._

His father's wings enveloped him in a long forgotten welcoming embrace; he just stood there, stiff, feeling undeserving, not having earned the right to return the hug. He sucked back the tears and the sobs, felt the salty liquid stain his ripped up fabrics and cursed himself for acting so weak.

Finally, Lord Jin was able to get something out through his soft sobs: "My son, my _dear_ son," -Shen tried to remember the last time he was ever called 'dear' by his father; "we have never hated you..._never.._"

"I'd deserve it – every bit of it," Shen's voice was strong, but it was breaking fast. "You know it, Father..."

"No, no.." The grip tightened; Shen was beginning to slide out of his father's grip, his eyes blurred, throat choked – he couldn't see, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. The baby like wails held hostage in his throat; he couldn't – he _wouldn't_- let them out.

"Cry, Shen;" his father, loving and almost crooning; this was different: he was usually the one to harshly demand him to cease his childish tears, remind him there's no need for them, that a king does not cry.

Shen was suddenly aware of the soft muffled wails in his father's robe that was coming from him; they got louder, he clung tighter.

"Oh gods, Baba - _Baba-!_" The wings were rubbing his back, he felt another pair join in; they were warm and fragrant, smelling of a sweet perfume. He sobbed harder, clutching to his parents like his life depended on it, no longer attempting to keep stoic and dignified.

It dawned on him why he was here (since the feline never answered.) Inner peace – he would never truly achieve it unless he finally let go of that bitter grudge he held against his parents. And for what, he wondered; there was no need for it, they had always loved him, Nana was right. His heart swelled, his mind completely tranquil, he soaked in his parents' love.

His mother and father lovingly smoothed his feathers, wiped his seemingly endless trail of tears, smiled at him.

"We love you;" his mother; her voice a gentle chime as she brushed a wing against his face, his father nodded along with her, sharing the tears.

"We're so proud of you," Lord Jin whispered; he never mentioned the canons, the killing of Master Thundering Rhino, the attempt at annihilating China. Just like a parent: never brought up his past misdeeds, only focusing on the future, what they had to take pride in him for. He had a clean slate with them, somehow.

Shen felt their wings start to pull away, he protested and tried to hold on, but they smiled and replaced his trembling wings to his sides, gently stepping back, reminding them how much they loved him, told him to live out his life in peace.

That choked him as he nodded, watching them leave. He finally could. He could finally live his life in peace. With the ones he loved.

"It is time I send you back now." Geez! He jumped, whirled around to the amused feline. When did she return?

"I never left." She was definitely making fun of him now. He flinched as she took a motherly hold on his wings, pressed something gently into his wings: a flower, a peony blossom.

"Thank you, L-Lady Sakura," he got out, finally regaining his composure, drying his tears.

"No, thank _you_," the mother whispered, with enough love you'd think she was talking to her own child. "Thank you – for being there for my baby – when she needed someone the most."

"Well..." Shen truly couldn't believe these words were coming from his mouth, but as they welled up in his throat, he realized how true they were. "Thank you...f..for sending her to me."

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It was early morning again; the Shen-less nights had passed five times now, and every day brought the same pain and longing, and utter mute grief.

It had been exactly five days since a word had come from Kurisu's mouth. The physician had given her an entire check-up, bandaged her wounds and had glanced questionably at the switch marks fading – but still there. Po refused to let the physician leave until he could determine what was wrong with his sister, but the elk found no physical diagnosis as to why the girl couldn't speak. Finally, he deemed her mute from grief and trauma, and that she'd come around when she was ready.

The city was starting to prosper again, slowly getting over their own trauma and making their home look a bit more and more like a luxurious paradise as it was, rather than a pile of discarded remains and wreckage. The Five helped with that, and Po and Shifu; they spent most of their time trying to recreate destroyed buildings, fixing carts, replanting splintered trees.

Shifu had made numerous gentle coaxing attempts to get the kitten involved, but she'd either not hear him or look at him blankly, and he'd leave her be. At least they managed to get some food in her; she ate when she was supposed to and could stomach her food; the grief didn't leave her with hindered digestive tracts. Still, her mouth remained shut.

Two more days went by; there was talk of what went on in the physician's room, but no one could discern what was true or not: 'Shen will be fine; he is doing well' or 'there's no way that peacock is going to live – did you see his wounds? I hear that old goat nanny of his is in there with him twenty four-seven, but he still can't open his eyes.'

Shifu finally came to the conclusion that the only thing that would be slightly beneficial for his student's sanity and health was to get her home. He gave the Furious Five orders to restore the town (they had visibly glanced at the days of wreckage still left to tidy and grimaced, holding in their groans.) All five warriors punched a fist into their hands and bowed. Shifu, Po, and Kurisu silently left.

They had only just left the borders of Gongmen; Kurisu's eyes stayed plastered on the city as they grew farther and farther from it (and in fact, she never looked where she was going, and Po and Shifu had to be right there to move her away from sorts of danger like craters the boulders left behind, holes, and logs.) It struck her two guardians with worry that the child never attempted to try and run back to the city, which they figured she might, but she only stared with intent at the now tiny remaining buildings.

"Sis?" Once in a while, Po attempted light conversation with his younger sister, such as talking about the weather, the surroundings, asking if she was hungry. He was heavily discouraged when she not only didn't answer, but wouldn't even seem to acknowledge his presence. He'd look to Shifu, who would only shake his head sadly and continue on the path.

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When Shen woke up, pain was all that greeted him – well, first thing that greeted him: his Nana; she was blurred at first, seeming to be spinning with the room, but Shen could see the water dripping from her face, felt the fuzzy beard tickling his cheek.

"Oh, my darling.." The soothsayer breathed out harsh and rapid sobs; her arms immediately encircled him, he bit back a squeak of pain and lifted his heavy sore wings to try and return the gesture. Gods, it _hurt_, but he decided it was sorta-kinda-maybe worth it. She still smelled the same: of herbs and spices, it was comforting and soothing, especially since all he smelled in his subconscious was the lovely metallic stench of blood.

"Nana, how long have I.."

"A week," she said softly.

He shot up – and howled from the unrelenting agony as his wounds awakened with a synchronized scream.

"Careful!" The soothsayer gently laid him back down, re-tightening a few bandages he loosened when he tried to get up, and placed a cool cloth on his forehead.

"You have a couple broken ribs; numerous sprains, about a million or so bruises, and probably just as much cuts." She finished the listing of his injuries, and her tightly drawn up concerned frown faded off to a gentle smile. "But you're alive.."

He breathed out, trying to understand all this. Okay, he had been crushed by a boulder, right? Well no, he remembered: the mother rabbit of the house he had crashed into managed to maneuver the boulder with the kitten's help. Perhaps most of the damage done to him had been fixable (obviously, he was alive after all.)

"Oh gods...I'm hurting.." he whined; his head was heavy, he wanted to sleep again-

-wait.

"Nana, where's the kitten?"

The soothsayer hesitated, debating on telling him. If he knew where the child had gone – oh, surely he was intelligent enough to realize he was in no condition to be going after her-

"Well...she left with the Grandmaster and the Panda, dear – back to the Valley Of Peace."

"WHAT?" He was up in a second, not even giving his wounds the satisfaction of hearing him squawk in agony as he scrambled on the hospital bed mat; potions scattered about, and he ignored his Nana's harsh orders to lay back down – to calm down. Oh gods, the kitten – she was _gone? _No – no, he was not staying in bed, not letting her leave (she probably thought he was dead: he was right.)

-what was she thinking, this was _Shen_; "Sheng Li, calm _down!_" The elderly goat made futile attempts to shove her chick back down; he squawked and flailed and threw a spectacular fit – similar to the ones he threw as a chick that had been deemed ill and confined to bed for a week.

Easily, Shen broke through the old goat's grasp, and he wanted to bawl when his cut feet touched the stinging cold tiles of the physician's office, but he staggered up anyways – and in a flash – grabbed something that was propped against the wall and was out of there within half a second, his injured train all that was seen as it passed through the door.

The soothsayer blinked: oh, no he _didn't._ Mhm, he had stolen her cane. She shook her head grimly to herself and began contemplating the terrible things that she'd do to him upon his return.

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He was there in the trees; he was there in front of her, by the spring, playing with her, sparring with her, teaching her new knife tricks – he was there.

Po and Shifu gave wayward concerned glances back now and then, trying to follow the child's eyes and her sudden small smiles; she'd almost look like she could be soundlessly giggling; their eyes would widen in confusion and concern – for her sanity – when she'd reach out and grab onto the air. Then, the smile would fade, she'd look back at her worried caretakers and silently lower her head.

"Kurisu, dear one." They'd come to a wide lake; it reflected every surrounding, every tree and blade of grass rippled in the water molecules. Shifu watched his student's wide eyes stare into the water – then she touched it and her eyes dimmed back to that silent pain when she realized it was only another figment of her broken heart.

"You have to drink something, child." The red panda's voice was soft and careful, like he was speaking around a sensitive new born that he didn't want to frighten. "You'll get dehydrated."

She let her master hand her a small porcelain cup, and she looked at it. Shifu shook his head. Was his student that disoriented? He guided the cup to her mouth; she looked at it, then quietly sipped.

He took out a sesame bun. "Are you hungry?" The child looked away; he took that as a no.

Po sighed and bent over, hurriedly scooping the luscious cool water into his mouth. He let out grunts of contentment between each sip, looking more and more refreshed and happier. Finally, he stepped back.

Kurisu sat in front of the spring, copying her brother's movements. Her eyes were shut, she was still mute, and she couldn't see the spring – couldn't see the distant reflection, white, and smirking and feathery. Shifu and Po did though; they just stared at each other. It couldn't be.

Shen leaned against the tree, a small smirk playing at his lips. Well, he could torment the girl further – it would make it that much more interesting when she finally looked up. He could sneak up behind her and press his wings over her eyes with a 'surprise!'

Instantly, he grimaced in horror and disgust. No, he wasn't going to do anything _that_ gaily.

"What's with the long face, kitten?" His tone was purely curious and innocent, amusement tinging it as well. Above all, only Kurisu and Nana would probably hear the compassion he was trying to convey in it.

The girl's eyes opened, she looked into the spring for the longest time, staring right at the albino's reflection; his expression altering to confusion. Finally, she lowered her paw into the water and slapped the image away, sick of her heart tormenting her.

"Kurisu..." Shifu breathed, not taking his eyes off the ghost white peacock. ...Maybe he was a ghost. "Kurisu, dear one...look up."

Tears blurred her eyes, she shook, both her entire body and her head – vigorously. No, it wasn't real; it never was any other time, so why would it be any different now?

The voice was _right_ behind her now: "Are you just going to sit there, kitten, or are you going to jump at me? Quite frankly, I'd like to get to bed; you have no idea what I went through to get here," he snapped.

Kurisu spun around, still not brave enough to coax herself to look up; she was eye level with the peacock's chest, heard his impatiently tapping talons, and she looked up, finally. She still said nothing, didn't make a sound. In fact, her eyes drifted back to the ground.

The peacock opened his mouth – and he bit down a loud agonized scream as the child suddenly threw herself on him with the force of a thousand bricks; his wounds screamed since he wouldn't do so himself, and part of him was ready to throw her back into the spring, but he wouldn't let himself.

The kitten clutched to his tattered fabrics like it was the last remnant of life to her, wailing into him – the first sound she had made in a week. The pain that tangled her vocal chords seemed to realize he was there too: they slowly untied themselves, and she uttered her first words since she saw him injured by the boulder – in a single heart wrenching, heart clawing, desperate sob:

"Oh - _Shen!_"

The peacock looked down to the girl clinging heavily to his silk robes; he tentatively folded a wing around her, effortlessly, but it must have brought at least some level of security, because her ear splitting sobs began to gradually tone down.

Shifu and Po just sort of stood there, surveying the scene, still in a state of shock. (They still expected they'd come to find their student and sister dying or _dead._) They exchanged glances, watching as Shen awkwardly attempted a soothing voice; he wasn't very good at it from their end, but Kurisu's sobs had finally quieted.

Finally, Shen pulled back, glowering. "Honestly, you insolent brat, you put me through all _that_ the two weeks I've been forced to look after you – and then – and then you're just going to _leave?_" It was obviously he was joking, and Kurisu giggled.

Shifu finally stepped forward. "Along with your exceptionally strong ability in weapons fighting it seems you also know how to die and come back to life – twice."

The peacock rolled his eyes.

"I didn't die, Grandmaster;" his address to the red panda greatly surprised Shifu. "I guess I was still needed on this earth to create mayhem." He snickered and Shifu rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Po came back from the lake; Shen raised an eyebrow as he looked at the water sopping and dripping from under the panda's fuzzy chin. Po quickly swiped a paw over his chin, before he slowly walked to the peacock, his eyes were narrowed. (Shen's head was visibly higher, whether it was to try and remain calm and dignified or an attempt to pull it back in fright they'd never know.)

"...That was totally _awesome!_" Shen's eye twitched, and Kurisu laughed into his robe. Shifu just face-palmed.

"You were all totally – oh no, the boulder is going to crush the city – TIME TO BRING IN THE THUNDER!"

All three watched as Po did – what could only be described as a very pathetic emulation of Shen's moves, as he balanced on a rock over the lake, mimicking where Shen was thrown back by the great rock. He lost his footing and staggered back into the lake. Shifu gave a small snort of laughter.

Shen watched the entertaining display for a few moments, then shook his head and turned to Kurisu; his face looked stern, her ears went back.

"So instead of going back with the other warriors you decide to run head first into a building that's about to be flattened to save a stupid bunny family you don't even know."

The child inadvertently covered her rump with her tail (a usual reflex when one of her Jade Palace guardians gave her a glare like that), and she looked warily at where his wings were behind his back, to see if he was concealing some sort of switch.

But the peacock only reached into his robe and pulled out the crumpled peony blossom, fastening it behind the girl's ear.

"Your mother would be proud of you."

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Shen was admittedly nervous to approach the doctor's office, not just because he didn't want to see what that pathetic swine had been reduced to, but – well, he really just hated the idea of returning to the city; Xun could clearly see how apprehensive the poor thing was, wings drawn up, head locked low, away from everyone's gaze.

The villagers looked over at them both as they crossed the streets – some quickly turned away, others gazed intently and warily, or they'd move quickly away from the two. Still, no arrows flew, no axes chopped through the air.

"They recognize the fact you're the one that saved them," Xun muttered softly to the peacock.

"Right, because..I didn't gather that; they still look quite afraid."

"Give them time."

The two were nearly knocked over from the sickening medicine stench the moment they walked through the doors, along with the coppery scent of blood, and the hazy aroma of incense burning – it all made for an interesting combination.

He was laying there in the hospital cot, sunken, wilted, looking like an Egyptian mummy wrapped in so much bandages. His skin was graying – more than before, not from old age – from his impending death. His gray eyes opened and he cracked a smirk.

"Hey there, cretin." He was looking right at Shen, but the peacock knew the wolf carried the liberty to be the first to speak.

"How are you feeling, sir?" Xun tried to steady his voice as he knelt down and lightly gripped his friend's hoof.

"Oh, you know," Hu began lightly; "it feels like I've been thrown into a fire pit, mauled by a pack of wild dogs, and – and like I've eaten your cooking," the pig finished wryly; Shen bit back a laugh at the disturbed look on the canine's face.

"My terrible cooking doesn't even compare to your butter nut squash tarts and you know it," the wolf teased.

Hu smirked, and then he coughed; there was blood spots on his hoof. He turned to Shen, who gulped quietly.

"You look glum, cretin," the pig remarked, noting Shen's quiet somber look.

"I'm the one that should be in that bed, wrapped in those bandages and dying – and you know it," the peacock said bitterly.

Hu chuckled hoarsely and laid down. "You saved the city, boy."

"Which doesn't even begin to make up for what I've done to it."

"Well no, but it's a start."

The peacock reached into the pocket of his tattered robe and pulled out a small box (was it the pig's imagination, or hallucinations?): it was moving. Silently, Shen moved to the bed cot and knelt down, gently slipping the box into a crease between the swine's knees.

"I brought you something."

Hu reached down to the box, shooting wary glances at Shen's widening smirk, and he lifted the lid off the box; the pudgy slimy green thing rolled out, looking confused.

"Oh gods," the swine snorted in laughter, running a bloody weak hoof over the frog's slimy smooth head. He turned to Shen, now sharing that smirk. "Reminds me of the ones that trampled my face so long ago."

The peacock laughed, watching the frog's gross googly wide yellow eyes dart about in confusion.

"Unfortunately, I could not fit the – what was it? - twenty frogs in that little box."

"It was twenty five," Hu corrected with a fond snicker as he reminisced. "That was when I suggested you be beaten by a switch, am I right?"

"And Nana took that threat into consideration and did just that."

The pig chuckled, and gave a quiet cough, which turned into a violent fit; his lungs weakening, his lifeless eyes draining more. Quietly, he fell back into the soft pillow, eyes flickering closed several times before they opened once more, and turned to Xun. They glinted with mischief.

"Keep that peacock in line for me, boy."

The wolf held down the choked sob and nodded.

Slowly, painfully, Hu rolled his head towards Shen; his eyes opened again, they were sadly smiling.

"I'm sorry for givin' ya such a hard time, cretin."

"Everyone can change, sir," Shen said thickly, meaning every word.

"And we both have..."

Change. Up until this moment, change wasn't something that Shen desired, didn't care about. Redemption meant nothing to him if it only averted him from what he felt was his path to victory. But there was more than one path – to happiness, and its key was a young naive little child, and a sagely, wise elderly goat.

He heard the soft sniffle from beside him.

_And a stupid mangy mutt_, he thought fondly.

A gentle soft white sheet was laid over the pig's still body, embracing him in the cotton, taking him to the place where Shen finally realized he _did _deserve to go.

Both the peacock and wolf said nothing, only watching as the frog silently hopped off the cot, and through the open window.

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It was later in the day now; it had taken forever to somehow get the girl un-clung from Shen; she had instantly ran to him and stuck there like a bur when he and Xun emerged from the doctor's office. He hadn't really said anything to her, and had that distant look in his eyes that the soothsayer had seen many times. The elderly goat knew both 'her kids' needed to be alone, and she was glad that the physician appointment proved as a good excuse.

"Talking again, I see," the elk commented as he had the teenager ingest a foul tasting liquid.

She gagged for several seconds, then glared. "Yeah, and there's a million things I want to say to _you._" She yelped at the sudden smack and sting on her tail end, coming from a very angry red panda.

But the doctor only smirked, taking the girl's arm and wrapping up her cuts. "Take it easy for a while now; I had to stitch a couple of those gashes, you know."

"'Take it easy'", the soothsayer scoffed; "because that kitten of mine is anymore intelligent than that chick of mine? Oh – I know he won't be taking it easy. Gods, the idiot bolted out of bed and traveled for an hour on the same day he finally woke from that coma."

"Yes;" the physician snickered, putting back a few medicine bottles in his cabinet. "I know he's hard to get through, stubborn."

Po put a teasing paw on his sister's shoulder. "So's this one."

"That makes both of my children," the goat muttered.

They all heard the scream: it was sudden, causing the physician to drop several cordial bottles and nearly trip; Kurisu ears shot up in horror once she realized who it was. She had darted from the office within a mere second (so much for 'taking it easy' – as if she'd even heed to that order), Po and the soothsayer followed, their hearts pounding. There was no doubts in either of their mind that the peacock was being attacked.

_Probably a villager who's still out for revenge!_ The kitten panicked, not ceasing her run even when the pain set in.

Without thinking of the situation further, the three charged up the hill, their anxiety growing with every step they took, dreading the sight that might meet their eyes. They reached the hill, and just stood there, taking in the bizarre bout in complete stunned silence. He was being attacked alright-

-but not in the way they thought: Shen was on the ground, under Xun, who sat there on the peacock lord's stomach. He was kicking and trying not to scream; locking his laughter in his throat as the wolf sat there, repetitively scribbling his claw over Shen's stomach in the same spot, relentlessly.

The peacock's legs were getting tangled in his robe as he thrashed desperately; the wolf kept up the endless one-claw-tickle, his tormentor not saying a word as he mercilessly tortured the poor peacock into laughing hysterics.

Shen didn't plead or snarl; Kurisu knew from experience that his avoidance with that was to keep his mouth closed so he wouldn't scream or laugh. The kitten watched on, grinning widely, while Po just looked confused and the soothsayer smirked. Once in a while the panda would glance over and shoot a questionable look to his sister, but she just giggled and surveyed the scene in endearment.

"XUN – YOU FILTHY MONGREL, I SWEAR TO THE GODS ONCE I CAN MOVE-!" He was cut off, making the mistake of opening his mouth, he fell into helpless childish laughs and pleads, covering his face with his wings – or more so his beak – trying to muffle the sounds of his humiliation, every sliver of pride stripped right off him.

Again, the wolf boss still remained silent, but he was grinning and he picked up the pace, switching claws to tickle as the other grew tired.

Shen was growing increasingly frantic, eyes tearing up, he looked pleadingly up at the canine, unable to do anything but laugh, still covering his face.

"Xun," he finally managed to whine. "Please no mo – AHA!" His body jumped, nearly bucking the startled wolf off as his tail descended to the peacock lord's feet, as did another claw; he still kept the other claw in unrelenting motion on Shen's belly (which was nearly bare from having lost so much of his clothing.)

Finally, Shen reached into his robe with a fierce snarl – yet Kurisu and Xun couldn't discern if it was playful or not – and he grabbed a knife. The kitten gasped and started running over the hill, but Shen stabbed it into the wolf – 's sleeve, nabbing him by the robe and throwing him into the mud.

Xun looked confused and bewildered as he rubbed the glop from his eyes, only to be replaced with more as Shen furiously threw handfuls of the grime at him; he yelped, furiously scrubbing to get the stinging brown stuff from his eyes – and one got him square in the mouth. He furiously spat out the foul tasting mud and yelped as he ducked another throw.

Shen mercilessly pelted him with mud ball after mud ball, throwing them – hurling them - as you would a snowball; they seemed to explode like small grenades as they hit their target. He kept it up, a sinister grin replacing the angry glare on his face.

The wolf's ears went back and his tail tucked between his legs as he yelled out, trying to seek refuge in a bush, only to be ruthlessly bombarded in there as well.

"Ah – okay, peacock, knock it off!"

He charged out of the bush and grabbed a load of mud himself, billowing at the peacock lord, who stepped back in alarm.

The wolf boss stood there, innocently tossing a ball of mud up and down in his paw.

"You even think about it, you filthy mongrel, and I swear to the gods _I'll kill you._"

Xun sneered, advancing towards the peacock who was non-threateningly holding onto a knife. His eyes perked evilly when Shen began backing away with unconvincing feigned bravery.

"Oh, please _your highness_, because you look so spiffy to begin with?"

The peacock looked down at his barely-a-robe still crusted with blood and dirt and he hissed. His red eyes dilated in fear as the wolf bolted much closer, and he tried to protect himself with this wings. Not this again! No more torture – he'd had enough!

Xun pounced on him, but he didn't tickle him, only mushing the paw-full of mud into the peafowl's face.

Shen howled and cursed in rage, which mingled in with Xun's pleased cackles and taunts, as he grabbed paw-full of mud after the other, smearing it all over the bird.

"Those children," the soothsayer hissed as she shook her head. "They're getting filthy; they'll need baths – after I tan them," she smirked darkly.

Kurisu and Po just looked at each other and grinned, leaving the hill silently and letting the two fight their way back into their long forgotten friendship.

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They were all at the borders of the city in the dusk, hours later; it was hard to see, but that seemed to suit everyone just fine – especially a certain kitten tucked in the goat's arms, and curled around a certain peacock as they looked at the constellations.

Shifu and Po spoke in hushed tones further away, surveying the scene, exchanging glances, worried whispers. Finally, Shifu looked over at the distant trio and sighed.

"I'll tell her."

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_(In...sanely long chapter is insanely long. XD WOW, 15 pages, a definite record._

_I could not leave Shen to die; I planned this fic and its events after and decided at an early stage of it that Shen could not die. XD (I love him too much.)_

_The meeting-loved-ones-in-heaven- sorta thing seems cliche, I know- but think about it: Shen's real evil came from the undying grudge to his parents, and there was NO way he could attain true peace without reconciling with them. And - I'm sure you could tell, the end of this fic drew inspiration from 'Les Miserables' - I didn't want Shen to die, but I wanted him to meet Kurisu's mother, like Cosette's came to take Valjean._

_I got the 'mute' idea from one of my favorite book series "The Hunger Games", where Katniss goes mute from grief in the last book._

_Doubtlessly, my favorite reconciliation here was with Shen and Hu. (But the wayward tickle/mud fight was fun too XD)_

_BTW: this is the song when Hu dies; I've re-named it 'Good-bye, Cretin'; "AlterniaBound - Alternia (Found on youtube))**  
><strong>_


	14. Chapter 14

Redeeming Light  
>Chapter 13 - <em>Where I Belong.<em>

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Nighttime brought terror, memories – various whimpering cries from three mouths that woke the clinic of sleepy injured patients, and some came to the door to see what was going on. Doctor Ren had to reassure them that it was nothing but a few nightmares and sent them back to their bedrolls.

It became a horrifying cycle that neither Shen, Kurisu, or the soothsayer wanted to repeat, the room sounded with different cries and different reactions to the same string of similar nightmares:

The boulder, the mob fights, the near deaths, the torches, the chants, the incomprehensible unrelenting notions of being separated again – forever.

The mob towered over her – literally. Each individual reached the height of a building, and their once tiny torches clutched tightly in hooves and paws were raging infernos leaping to the sky, covering the moon, her only source of light. The surroundings were dark, fire burned at her as the torches were swiped down, alighting the ground around her with a deadly ring of smoldering red and orange.

His red eyes were wide and fearful, they caught her eye, but only for a moment, and the fire and darkness consumed him; all she saw was the hint of his train still remaining. She screamed and ran for it, but hooves and paws held her back, laughing. His train was completely engulfed by darkness, she awoke with a desperate scream.

The soothsayer was there, her hoof making loving comforting circles on the girl's back and fur; Shen awoke, groggy but grateful the girl had stirred him from his own terror before it had really begun. He turned to the girl and his nanny, watching the soothsayer whisper comforting words into her child's ear as the girl cried. He gave his nanny a questionable look, but she just shook her head and told him to go back to sleep.

Now it was his turn: it was the smoke that was the main object of terror in his dream, it chased him, choked him. He saw nothing and felt nothing but the burning of the smoke. Then – Xun, the wolf was being attacked by the mob.

"No – XUN!" Shen screamed, watching in anguish as his best friend was taken from him, pulled into the mob, consumed, axes swung, so did torches.

Then, Shen saw them, caged and crying; the soothsayer firmly wrapped around her kitten as a means of protecting her, driving her horn through the metal bars when one of the attackers came near. He gave the most vicious squawk he could muster, and tried to charge at them – and suddenly couldn't.

It was one of _those_ dreams: he couldn't move, suddenly couldn't scream, trapped to the ground, his voice trapped in his throat. He saw the boulder careening down the hill – it was so much bigger than it was supposed to be – and it flattened the cage. He only saw the flash of fear in their eyes before he woke up with a strangled cawing scream.

Arms encircled him; terrified, he tried to knock them away, his subconscious seeing an attacker reaching for him, when it was just his Nana. She held him to her, kissed his forehead. Her eyes were bloodshot; Kurisu was by her side, sniffling and shaking, wrapping her tail around him like a fluffy fuzzy blanket of security. Reassured by their presence, and their faces all that was in this room (and Xun, who kept his nightmares and yearns to comfort to himself in the corner), the peacock slowly fell asleep.

But it wasn't for long: it was the soothsayer that woke them all up next with an ear splitting cry, a desperate plead of 'no – not my babies, please!'

Shen moved out of the bedroll and dragged his half asleep frazzled body over to her's, flopping down in exhaustion and gripping her hoof to let her know he was there. Her whimpers subsided as another sleepy wing reached up and wiped a tear.

He laid his head down, watching the elderly goat as she slept, now peaceful and calm; his wing gently clasping her hoof, driving away the nightmares and fears of separation. He closed his eyes, slept for a moment – and the child's wail resonated through the clinic and through his head. Groggy, he stretched a wing through the darkness, felt nothing.

-The kitten practically jumped on him, and he almost screamed: it was so abrupt, and right after he'd woken from another nightmare. But upon seeing it was only the child, he let out a shaky breath of relief, letting the girl climb into the bed roll.

"I don't want to sleep," Kurisu sobbed, letting off a few little kitten mewls as she crawled under the blankets, worming up between Shen and the soothsayer.

"Neither do I," the peacock inhaled, his breathing ragged and shaky. "I'm just surprised the physician hasn't kicked us out yet." He pulled the blankets up over the three of them (but did it really matter, they'd just be kicked away from the next nightmare).

"I'm just going to stay with Nana for a while, wait until she has completely calmed, and I'll head back to bed. You may as well do the same." The peacock laid his heavy head back down, though was afraid to lay it on the pillow: the moment he did, it was straight back to nightmare world.

But more or less, the two just considered the latter option, and all three of them wound up staying in the one bedroll together. It was crowded – you couldn't turn your head without being smothered by feathers or fur, but neither really seemed to care. Huddled in such close quarters, feeling each other's touch was soothing and protected them from the nightmares.

A dog's whimper sounded from the corner of the room.

Shen rolled his eyes. "I am not letting the dog on the bed."

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The sky was kissed pink as the sun started to arise, it came slowly (which suited the three heavily sleeping figures in the bedroll just fine.)

Shifu gripped Oogway's staff, sitting by Po's side; they'd both been awake, restless, watching the scene unfold in the doctor's office through a window, exchanging looks, but few words, especially when they watched the three curl up in the one bedroll.

"We can't separate them, Master," Po said softly; "look at them – they can't even be apart long enough to sleep right now!"

Shifu hummed in acknowledgement, leaning on the staff. He was exhausted (but then who wasn't), his eyes were blood shot, stinging from lack of sleep and from a few splinters of wood he had to pick out of his cornea when the firework shot the bits of splintered tree into them.

"Look at them..." Po whispered, his voice still rang in disbelief; he was insistently pointing through the window, poking at the glass repetitively, tapping it. Shifu noticed Kurisu and the soothsayer's ears rising in alert at the sound. He growled and slapped Po's hand away from the glass.

"Stop that, Po, you're going to give them all heart attacks!" Doubtlessly after last night's display, the one thing that the trio feared most was the thought of a second attack, and awaking to banging on the glass probably wasn't the _best_ idea right now.

"And seriously!" the red panda hissed; "I need to think!"

The urgency in his master's tone had the younger panda back up instantly, paws slipping from the glass. He watched Shifu's ears inadvertently lower, leaning back against the tree and grip Oogway's staff tighter.

What was he to do - what could he do? He looked to the heavens, seeking guidance.

"Master Oogway, what would you do.." Shen was a criminal, a murder, a heartless blood thirsty killer that killed hundreds – innocent civilians, his own subordinates, children – without mercy, without the glance of remorse and guilt, without hesitation, that was the main thing. He was ready to dominate China, probably kill the current emperor; he nearly killed Po, he would have definitely killed Kurisu at the time.

But that was the keyword, wasn't it? _Was._ Past tense; past tense should never be brought up again, Oogway had said once, simply because 'the past is the past, it has come and gone; it holds no meaning because you cannot change what has happened' – no, but you could change who you are, change the events of your future if you changed yourself.

He gazed intently through the hospital window, crawled up further until he was at the very tip of the branch (one of the only trees that remained in the city now); he peered through the window, a bit of guilt nagging at him for shamefully spying on his student.

They were all still sleeping in the bedroll; there were no restless and frightened twitches and sudden movements, no – there hadn't been any since the three had all huddled up together. Shifu could make out Shen's wings draped over both sleeping figures (whether it was intentional or just an act his sleeping body did accidentally, he would never know.) The red panda noted the little kitten inching closer into the peacock in her subconsciousness, and Shen's wings automatically enclosed her.

Po was right: he couldn't split them up. There was no way either of them would be able to function without the other. Well, he didn't know about Shen, but Kurisu for sure.

-red eyes opened, they saw he was holding the girl, but he didn't push her away, only closed his eyes and pulled the blankets further up on them both-

The red panda pursed his lips.

-and Shen too.

Shifu quietly slid down the tree, guilty he had spied in on them this long. At least he hadn't been noticed. He gripped Master Oogway's peach staff even tighter, as if hoping for his master's wisdom to guide him, tell him what to do; as if he thought it could bring him the answers he needed.

And of course nothing came. He was on his own on this one. What he decided would change the lives of everyone..

"Master Shifu!" Shifu blinked, startled, almost stumbling in the dirt. He had been so into his thoughts and pondering that for once, he actually hadn't heard someone coming up behind him, but he heard the all too familiar voice.

"Master Croc!" The red panda beamed, and turned to the larger buffer figure by the reptile's side. "And Master Storming Ox – good morning!" Stunned, the red panda's arms lowered in shock.

They looked as if something had mashed them between its teeth and spat them back out again. Bandages, crutches, blood still seeping through, cuts, scratches galore.

"Good gods," Shifu gasped, staring in awe. "How did – are you both alright?"

"I officially hate fireworks," the crocodile master said bluntly, bitterly, sliding down the base of the tree, blinking to clear the dizziness. "Luckily the palace guards got to us before...you know," he said awkwardly; "At least Lord Jin and Lady Ah-lam made a fine choice when they selected them as servants." He laid his head back against the tree, sinking into the bark.

Master Storming Ox rolled his eyes, seeing his fellow warrior was much too disoriented to really speak, and the fact that his expressing his hatred for fireworks (that he shared as well) wasn't providing any clarification as to what had happened, he needed to finish:

"See this tree?" the ox asked, knocking on the bark with an iron fist. "That's the kind of tree that fell on us – only a bit smaller – but not much, just enough to preserve our lives," he muttered, rubbing away a migraine.

"How bad are the injuries?"

"Breaks, sprains, fractures – only a few bruises; I'd rather it be the other way around, and there'd be only a few breaks.."

"We were under that tree for a while.." Croc started speaking again; "and we were unconscious even longer. When we woke, it was after the boulder had hit."

"And we heard about who saved the city-" the ox added.

"-so where is he?" Master Croc finished; Shifu was dizzy from trying to follow their collaborated conversation.

The red panda pointed through the window, to where the peacock was still curled over the small kitten and goat in their little bedroll.

"Sleeping with his nanny," Master Croc began, wincing as he went to get up. "Haven't seen that since.." Both the masters exchanged glances, they had no idea how long.

"The city is still in an uproar about this," the great ox said quietly, his expression tight and tense. "They do not feel safe with him free in the city, even though he did save them.. We have been asked to either lock him up in Gongmen jail-"

The red panda's eyes shut tight, he gripped his cane just as tight.

"-or, an alternative.." Shifu felt Master Storming Ox's hoof on his shoulder, he blinked and turned to them, reading his expression; they were thinking the very same thing he had been contemplating all morning.

"I don't know..." the red panda whispered helplessly; it really was all on his shoulders now, the biggest decision he ever had to make, one that would impact the lives of all his students, the entire valley – even the city. And he had no ways of knowing if this was the right choice or not, no way of knowing the consequences if he followed through, and the probably much worse consequences if he didn't.

"I will talk to Shen."

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"H-hold still, s-s-sssir.." The tailor's voice wavered so badly that Shen was unable to make out what she was saying. And she was still unsure of the address: 'My Lord?' or 'Master Shen?' 'Sir Shen?' No, she'd just stick with 'sir', you couldn't go wrong with that.

Shen stood on the wobbling bamboo stool, his sore feet hissing as it touched the rough surface; he grabbed onto the mirror to keep himself upright. Finally satisfied with his position, he slowly released the mirror, giving a small satiated smile when he no longer wobbled.

The rabbit visibly flinched severely as her paw brushed against the fabrics to his tattered robes, still afraid to go near him (matter a fact, she had downed three glasses of water to cure her dehydration – from sweating so bad). He made no movement as her paw brushed against him, standing calm and silent, just waiting for her to finish with his measurements.

She could feel his eyes on her as she shakily replaced the measuring tape, sliding it onto her desk, afraid to approach him again.

"Pick out a fabric, sir."

Shen hopped off the stool – and hissed from his stupid abrupt jump on his injured feet. He shook it off, slowly walking towards the racks covered in various fabrics, a spectrum of different colors. The peacock had his eye on a beautiful burgundy pattern; the fabric itself was sewed with simple little swirls nearly transparent in the colors, it looked like leaves were sprouting: they were plants.

"I have some fine silk over here, My L-" She bit her tongue at his expression – oh no, what had she done.

His expression wasn't readable, it continued to alter for several seconds, and he pursed his beak together tight, grinding it.

"I don't go by that title," he finally said in a cool tone; the woman was beyond stunned. "And – if you'd please..." He worked with his tone of voice carefully, keeping it low, but tranquil too, and not its usual coldness. The soothsayer had him practice talking earlier that morning, attempting different tones. If he snapped, he'd probably scare the woman into hysterics – the city was _still _that paranoid. (Not that he blamed them.)

"I-I would like to take a look at this burgundy fabric," the peacock said, holding up the pattern in question.

The woman blinked. "It's hemp though, Shen; it is the most common and cheapest fabric in the province."

"Cheapest, very good, I don't wish to spend too much," Shen said smugly, taking a few old coins out of his used-to-be-a-robe. He grimaced and wiped off some mud and dirt (good gods, not even the _yuan _he was so sure he had protected in his deep pockets had been safe from the mess the mobs left, stained with mud and blood.) He sighed and dipped them into a wash basin.

"Will this cover it?" He also resisted his usual urge to rudely shove the object he was holding to the person, but Nana made it clear that that also was not a good idea. Carefully, he dropped the coins into her paw; she visibly flinched.

"This will cover it just fine," the woman said in an odd tone; "I got some emerald silk though, wouldn't that suit your-"

"No, thank you," Shen said curtly.

The woman stared. Was this really the same peacock that had always so rudely demanded all her silk – discounts on all her silk, threatened her with bodily harm if it did not meet his qualifications? Even as a chick, he had been only five when the soothsayer took him to get his first silk; he had marveled at the patterns and the soft smooth texture. Of course, the texture was the least of the qualities of the fabric that he cared about when he grew older: it was all about the money, the posh and royal fabric, that he had even decreed 'much too good for a commoner.'

And here he was – not only shrugging it off, but requesting a robe that of a commoner would wear.

Shen seemed to be able to sense the woman's confusion, he glanced silently down at the rags he wore now with disgust – not just at their appearance, bloody, crusty, and dirty, but at the way he always thought about them, acting like it was the most important thing in the world to him, so diligent of keeping it neat and perfect - it was just clothes. And what more, the peacock clan and its subordinates were usually the only ones in silk – but...he wasn't truly royalty anymore.

Finally, with a daunting look, he raised his head to the woman, thoughtfully grinding his beak again.

"I...I don't like silk anymore."

The tailor looked like she could faint (and had been ready to since she saw her customer was Lord Shen that day), but kept all her questions to herself, thoughtfully folded the burgundy hemp, and assured him it would be done by the following morning.

He left, finding his feet traipsing him down the dusty, dirty, still full-of-rocks-and-wreckage-path, trying to avoid the stares cast to him by many apprehensive villagers; some looked to him with confusion, very very few with admiration, and most moved away or into what remained of their homes as he walked past.

"Birdy!"

And Shen just about fell on his face as his train was yanked back with a child's paw, he felt something climbing up his back, and he tensed, whirling around; the child whirled with him, laughing. Reaching back, the peacock tentatively peeled the creature off him, holding him by his shirt collar, and blinking.

It was the bunny child of the house he had crashed into, looking to be no more than three years of age, fuzzy and utterly adorable, his giant green eyes staring into the peacock's confused ruby ones in childish admiration as he clung to the peacock's wing.

"Um..." Shen wasn't sure what to make of this; he shook his wing. "Okay...get off.." The child stayed clung to him like glue no matter how much he gently shook his arm, it just made the stupid kid cling tighter. Annoyed, the peacock huffed.

"Mmm...birdy.." the bunny purred, snuggling into Shen's wing as if it was his own cuddly teddy bear he slept with.

The peacock was losing patience fast. "Look, kid-"

"I like yer feath'rs..." the toddler said dreamily, eyes closed, falling asleep.

Shen grew silent, his wing slowly lowered to his side in shock, the baby's words repeating in his feathers. He – liked his feathers? No one liked his feathers, no one liked albinos; his feathers were a bad color -weren't supposed to be white, were ugly, plain, dead-

And the baby liked them.

"Teng!" Shen turned, a rabbit was rushing up to him – the one that had saved him, the baby's mother. Oh great, way to make the situation even more awkward.

"Oh, Teng, thank heavens!" The mother carefully extracted her protesting toddler from the peacock's outstretched wing; she looked up at him, bit her lip. Shen noticed her taking a step back, then, eyes determined, she stepped forward again...and she smiled at him.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Relatively so," he replied, shifting uncomfortably on his talons. "Th-thank you, rabbit...female..for..saving me.."

"And thank you for saving us," she responded, eyes sparkling; there was no fear in her eyes. "Had you not been there to prevent the worst of the crash, that boulder would have flattened us."

"It still flattened most of your house," Shen muttered.

"-which can be rebuilt, but my family could not – if they were killed."

Shen nodded; that was true: you could always get back earthly possessions, and even if you couldn't, nothing held a candle to the importance of your family. "I'm not the only one you should be thanking; that stupid kitten was the one that dove right into your house and was prepared to stop the boulder on her own." He rolled his eyes at the initial idiocy of remembering the kitten just standing there in the window, prepared to take on a ten thousand pound boulder by herself with her bare hands.

It was a wonder that he didn't switch her, instead...he gave her a flower. He snickered, remembering the peony blossom, that the girl still had tucked in her fur. He started wondering if it was a good idea to tell the child where the flower came from.

The mother rabbit broke his thoughts: "I did thank the child; we spoke plenty when we tried tending to your injuries – you were unconscious then." She smiled. "She seems to really care for you, as does the soothsayer – not that that is any huge surprise."

The peacock hummed in acknowledgement, relaxed, never minding the fact that he was now having a pleasant conversation with the rabbit. "I never expected kidnapping a girl to keep as a hostage would.." He shook his head in disbelief. "Lead to all this.."

The rabbit was eying him strangely, never having heard that part of the rumors: a hostage? Well, it did make sense, she supposed – why else would he have a child with him?

Shen was lost in his own thoughts, thinking of the girl, suddenly, his nanny, the trials all three had gone through.. No, Shen never expected this: when he kidnapped the child, he was sure the warriors would just show up, take the brat; he'd finally have the panda under one of his knives (he had actually planned a perfect place on one of _Dao-ming_'s mantels, where the panda's head would go as a nice trophy.) And then – he realized, had the warriors come to take the girl, he wouldn't have let her go, he couldn't have. She was the only one besides the soothsayer that actually looked beyond his ugly white feathers – the only one that had somehow unceremoniously wormed her way into his heavily guarded heart...

And he remembered what his old master had told him, his father too:

_Inner peace is a Kung Fu Master's greatest tribulation and struggle, and their ultimate goal. There is no telling how the master in question will ever achieve it, but they all eventually do, find their own path. Some choose to meditate for long periods of time, some find it through their pain and grief..._

And sometimes it finds you.

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Warily, Shen approached the royal grounds; he felt so unworthy being here, it was so intimidating, frightening – to know that the graves of his parents were here, his master. It was the cemetery of past royals and nobles, heroes of Gongmen as well, Lord Jin's most faithful warriors and deceased students, and anyone that the peacock clan had deemed worthy of being buried in these sacred grounds.

Hu was here; Shen had requested it, if anything it was the least he could do for the pig – that had saved his life. He had earned his place here, surrounded by other heroes, his parents, his master.. He would not be alone.

The wolf was there like Shen knew he'd be, on his knees, clasping his paws together in a praying gesture, visible tears staining his robe.

"At least he's at peace now," Xun said shakily; he stood. The wind blew – his remnants of a robe up; Shen saw the bandages, and – and he saw the scar.

"I'm sorry," he said thickly, measuring every word in pain. They couldn't just pretend it never happened, it had, and there was no excuse for it, nothing that could make up for it. Shen was still wondering why the canine hadn't let him die to the mob.

And the words – they felt so weird on the peacock's tongue, archaic, nearly unknown now; he had almost forgotten how to say it, and especially how to feel it. He was always too proud to say it, but gods. He had to release some of that pride.

It's what got him in this mess in the first place.

"It's okay, Shen," the wolf said, finally turning to him.

"It isn't okay and you know it." The peacock's voice was tight and strained, his eyes averted off the wolf and the graves.

"Calm down." Xun's voice was completely calm and soft, almost comforting, but why! Gods, Shen wanted to shake that insufferable dog by his shoulders and throw him in a cart of vegetables, he hated him for how lenient he was being!

"Xun, for the love of the gods – stop being an idiot for once if you are at all capable of that, you pathetic mongrel – I...I _stabbed_ you!"

"So I'm aware," the wolf snapped. "Must we bring that up again?"

"Yes, we must!" Shen said harshly. "Because I have to know..." His voice lowered, hushed to a heartbroken confused whisper; the wolf flinched when the peacock gripped his paws. "Why, Xun?"

"I think I'm the one that should be asking that question," Xun said tersely.

"Xun...you owed nothing to me," Shen whispered. " I deserved nothing; I did not deserve to be saved..."

The wolf was silent.

Shen tested the words out on his tongue: "and I do not deserve your friendship..."

"Jeez, stop beating yourself up," Xun said softly, his eyes full of concern. Shen talking bad of himself? He was beginning to fear brain damage from that catastrophic boulder crash. "You never used to before.."

"I never used to find a flaw in my actions and my ways. Perhaps my eyes have finally been..." He pursed his beak, "opened, per say."

Xun smiled at him, but it started to fall when he noted the pained look on the peacock's face; it sliced him to the heart. Even when they were children, it stung the wolf boss more than anything to see his friend so upset, doubtlessly being as close as they once had been it was just instinct – their heart's instinct to feel each other's pain, and it was a dynamic that carried through their friendship for years-

-and it was resurfacing now. He looked over at Shen; the peacock's eyes were glassy, washed over with pain.

"I guess..." Xun began, and Shen looked up. "I wanted to see if...the Shen – the chick I grew up with was still there. However well you tried to hide it, I knew..._you_ were still in there.." He poked him in the stomach, smirking when he twitched. "Somewhere."

A silence hung in the air between the two, but it was not an awkward one. Both were smiling slightly, sitting on the head of a tombstone, renewed familial tranquility in the air.

Xun shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, giving a wayward glance and turning to the peacock. "I mean, I'd give you a hug-"

"Don't even think about it."

"-that's what I thought." The wolf gave a wry smirk, which Shen shared, and the canine moved towards Hu's tombstone. He reached into his tattered robes (he hadn't gone to see the tailor yet), and pulled out a small hydrangea flower, kneeling in front of the grave.

A hydrangea: love, endearment, gratitude, enlightenment; the flower of thanks, the flower to give to your unsung hero in life, the one that saved you...

A slow smile came to the peacock's face; he placed a wing on a part of the flower's violet beauty. Xun looked at him questionably, and both delicately placed the small blossom on the head of the grave, standing back. Xun got on his knees and bowed his head.

The peacock just sort of watched him for several minutes, his limbs trying to get into the same position, but it was his stubborn pride that prevented them from making the gesture-

-and memories flooded back; Hu smiling (smiling!); Hu lying there on his death bed; Hu taking Xun in, looking after him – saving his life; the unseen memory of the pig fighting off an entire mob, being mortally wounded by the mob – for _his_ sake-

He got down and bowed, clasping his wings tightly together in a prayer, channeling all his emotion into it: his gratitude, his remorse, his guilt, admiration...

The two got up, saying nothing: no words needed to be said; they stood and began to silently walk from the grave yard, and something compelled Shen to turn back, he heard a sound... He lightly tapped the wolf's arm and Xun turned.

Perched on the grave along with the hydrangea was a small little green form, its expression nonchalant and curious. The frog hopped over to the flower, seeming to be burying its face in it a bit; Xun and Shen held their breath when the creature turned to them, its eyes sparkled with a familiar sparkle.

The wolf's eyes filled with tears, he clutched onto Shen's shoulder. The peacock smiled.

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The sky was taking on a brilliant swirl of purple and orange entwined, a magnificent sunset. It beamed down on the remaining and newly built structures in Gongmen, in _Dao-ming _forest, illuminating the city's pavement with a golden glow.

Shifu once again found himself by alone– with only nature and the color changing sky around him. He sat down in a patch of flowers and looked out to the brilliant harbor. The sun kissed it, flooding the water with a brilliant orange shine.

A scene in front of him: the peacock and the kitten – soothsayer and the wolf too – distant figures in the hills, running about like kids. Though, Shifu noted to his amusement, Shen's running was not voluntary.

"We have been over this, you stupid cat!" the peacock barked, nearly tripping over a root sticking from the ground. "Get those stupid flowers away from me!"

-a foot stuck out, Shen went face first into the dirt and flowers; he only had a second to turn back and give a glare that could kill to the smug wolf – before a blue blur leaped on him.

Shifu chuckled, watching as Shen howled all sorts of curses and insults and threats as he thrashed beneath the child – the child who was blissfully decorating his feathers with an assortment of flowers.

"Master Shifu, what are they doing?" The amusement in Po's voice was unmistakable.

"I'm taking a wild guess here in saying that Kurisu is trying to make him look more feminine."

Po snorted. "So, have you decided yet?"

"Yes; it's just the matter of..separating those two long enough to talk to Shen – if she'll let him go again."

"I don't know – you saw how she got when he left her for just about fifteen minutes the last time. Heck, she wouldn't even stay in her own bed last night!"

"She's going to have to let him leave this time, she can't be included in this conversation."

Po was a bit worried. "Why?"

Shifu didn't respond, striding through the soft bed of the endless sea of flowers, walking dignified, his paws tucked into his sleeves, up to the peacock – that was still under the kitten.

"Lord Shen?" The red panda bit back the laugh that nearly burst out when he saw the state of the poor peacock: every crown feather 'flowered' – as well as his neck feathers, and he had sprinkled flower petals all over his face.

"May I talk to you?"

"Yes – please!" The peacock scrambled up, worriedly stepping out of range of a pouncing Kurisu – with flowers in her paws. He quickly fell into step with Shifu, walking sideways to make sure the kitten stayed put and Xun didn't trip him again. Satisfied he was safe, he let out a breath, tucking his wings in his sleeves and following the elderly red panda.

Shifu remained silent through their walk – until they were somewhere secluded, but – oh gods, Gongmen's former genocidal warlord covered in flowers – _how _could he stay silent about that?

"Those flowers match your eyes."

Shen cursed under his breath, plucking and shredding every flower with a glare. "You can thank your youngest student for that."

The two reached one of the only surviving trees just beside the dock to the harbor. They both overlooked it silently, watching the clouds make patterns in the sky.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Grandmaster?" Shen decided to break the silence. Shifu didn't respond, only continuing to stare into the clouds, it had Shen wondering if that's what he was dragged here to do.

"...I believe in second chances." Shen turned to him. "I believe a person can repent for his sins if he tries, which you have." The red panda looked over at him, smiling serenely. "That a soul can be saved if they make the effort, and if others are willing to help." When he glanced backwards, Shen assumed he was talking about the kitten.

"I was raised under Master Oogway and taught by him. I take his judgement with me, and it is indeed by the laws of the palace.."

It seemed to drone on for some time; Shen's crown flattened in annoyance. Oh yeah, taught by the senile turtle alright, both certainly never shut up or got to the initial point-

"...I am to give you a chance."

Shen stared. Had he heard right? No, he hadn't – that stupid kitten probably got some flowers in his ears. He just looked at the red panda as if he had sprouted nine heads.

"_What?_"

"I said I am going to give you a chance. Assuming of course, that you want it." He leaned on Oogway's staff.

"I don't deserve it," Shen said bitterly, and Shifu softly chuckled.

"It is not your decision whether or not you deserve another chance, it is the ones that give it that decide it," he smirked. Shen subtly turned his head to roll his eyes. Gods, just like the old turtle.

"So?" Shifu looked back to him; Shen was averting his eyes. "Would you like a place in the palace?"

The peacock just stared, his mouth dry like sand, unable to speak. He couldn't have heard right – again. It couldn't be that easy; it wasn't possible – a stay at the palace: to get what his heart wanted most – wait-

"Wh..what about Nana and Xun?"

The red panda pursed his lips. Of course; he had forgotten about them. Well, the wolf had been Shen's most trusted subordinate, proved to be well skilled in combat fighting, was the leader of his pack – he could be of good use. And the soothsayer – well, Shen knew Po liked her, she had saved his student, and judging by the way Kurisu also referred to her as 'Nana', she loved her just as much.

"There is room for them both." He stepped off the dock, beginning back to the field of flowers. "Come – get your stuff together, if – um – any of it survived, that is."

"I-I have all I need," Shen responded, his voice awestruck and thick.

"Very good, we leave in the morning. The Five should be finished rebuilding most of the city by then."

The walk back was just as silent as the walk to the harbor had been, both didn't really have anything to say, and Shen was still much too stunned to gather up a sentence or sound, and when he did, it stuck to his throat like honey.

Upon reaching the fields, both discovered that Kurisu, Xun and the soothsayer were still in the flowers, now dimmed with the rest of the world from the sun slipping away. Ludicrously enough, Kurisu was trying the same treatment with Xun: cheerfully sticking flowers into his fur, and the wolf protested and snarled, not having half the patience with this child that Shen did.

Shifu tapped his staff against the ground; they all looked up. "It is getting late, you all best head to bed, we leave at the crack of dawn."

"We do?" Kurisu asked softly, painfully, her ears lowering.

Shifu hesitated, then gently smiled. "We..._all_ do.." The wind rushed by Shen quickly as the blue blur.._tackled_ Shifu to the ground, before sweeping the startled red panda up in a hug, cuddling the tiny master with squealing-sobbing 'thank you – thank youuuu!' muddled in with purred 'I love you's. Everyone's mouth but Po's dropped: he knew his younger sister wasn't very efficient with her formalities – especially not when she got like this.

The red panda gasped, managing to wriggle his head up out of her arm and take in a much needed gulp of air, then he sighed and lightly smiled, barely returning the hug with an arm. Well, he had to admit – he missed her.

"Guess I'm not her only squeeze toy," Shen muttered; Po snickered, and Shifu flushed, then barked for the girl to let him go.

The red panda regained his composure and dusted off his robe. "Get some sleep. I will see you all in the morning."

They all stood, now realizing how tired they were, standing and straightening themselves up. Shen looked over at the flower covered Xun and snickered.

"You look beautiful, Xun."

"_Shut up._"

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They loaded the ships with bedrolls, food – notably a lot of sago tarts (and almond cookies), and they prepared to set sail; the captain dropping the anchor into the water while he waited for his dilly-dallying passengers.

Shen was standing in front of the rabbit's mirror in the tailor's shop, wrapped in his burgundy hemp robe, timidly turning around slowly in front of the mirror, rubbing a wing over the fabric. It was so weird, he was so used to silk. He was nervous of stepping out of the door, again, so used to walking around in a silk robe, and not a commoner's hemp.

"You look just fine, Shen." It still felt so weird to call her former lord by his real name – no 'Lord' with it.

"Do I?" he asked reluctantly. "I don't feel that I do.."

"Oh, go on." The rabbit smiled, actually having the courage to gently push him to the door, where he visibly held onto the door frame. She sighed, pursed her lips, and opened the door; either he'd fall backwards or he'd have to walk out.

"Oh, Shen!" Kurisu squealed. "You look so pretty!" Po loudly guffawed, Shen wanted to sink through the ground.

"'Pretty', that's the word an adult _male_ peacock wants to hear," Shen snapped.

"You know what I mean," the kitten grinned, she curled up under his wing. "I think Xun is coming out next."

Said wolf walked awkwardly out the door, head high, strutting comically; the clothes were very tight on him.

"Good _gods_, you look like a woman!" Shen gasped, laughing. Xun made a half-hearted attempt to kick him, but the peacock dodged it, laughing harder.

"Oh, for the love _of!_" Xun exclaimed, exasperated. "Aren't there any freakin' clothes I can wear that doesn't make me look like a she-wolf?"

"Oh relax, it accents your eyes," Shen teased. He snickered and ducked a thrown pebble.

"Once we get on that boat, Shen, I'm going to badly hurt you," Xun muttered, blinking when Shifu gave them a glare.

"There will be no rough housing on the boat," the red panda said sternly. "You'll throw us all over board – or the driver will."

"So then when we get to the palace," Xun decided, helping the soothsayer up into the boat, followed by Shen, and Kurisu. Po was last to climb aboard, retracting the anchor. (The boat visibly dipped a bit when he stepped on.)

Shen and Kurisu gathered to the very back of the boat, gripping the rim of it, watching as Gongmen became more and more distant, as did the villagers. All stopped what they were doing, stepping to the dock and the outskirts of the city. Every warrior turned to them; the citizens looked amongst themselves and smiled, all kowtowing in a synchronized bow, it looked like a rolling wave as one bowed after the other. The first to rise from their bow was a familiar looking rabbit mother with her just as familiar little toddler eagerly hopping up and down in her arms and waving.

Shen smirked, tentatively raising a wing and waving back to them, chuckling softly and rolling his eyes when little Teng blew repetitive kisses in their direction. He closed his eyes, feeling the pain leave him, the hurtful memories, the bitter tragedies that had happened in Gongmen – all a memory now. What he had to look forward was the future; it'd probably be scary, it'd probably be exciting – there was no telling what they'd all encounter, the trials and tribulations they'd go through; it was all so overwhelming-

-but it all felt so right.

"Shen!" He was dimly aware that Kurisu was tugging on his new robe, eagerly pulling him back with her. "Let's go get set up, and get something to eat – I'm hungry."

"Hm, fine." He allowed the kitten to eagerly tug him back with her, all the while vowing, "If Xun touched even _one_ of my sago tarts, I don't care _what _the red panda master says – I am throwing him overboard, to the sharks."

"He'd taste gritty," the kitten giggled. "I don't think he likes me very much-"

"-You put _flowers _in his fur," Shen reminded her with a smirk.

"Pretty ones," Kurisu added, her eyes sparkling. She and Shen started back for the bunks. "At least he kept them in longer than you," she pouted, but her twitching grin showed she really didn't mean it. "You destroyed all yours."

Shen reached into his robe, cupping something in his wing. "All but two." And he gently took the kitten's paws, placing the flowers in her palm, curling her fingers over it.

Kurisu uncurled her fingers; tears sprung to her eyes, and she smiled, brushing a paw over their delicate little petals, holding them like the world's greatest treasure.

The flowers were blue and white.

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_Well, here we are...the final chapter. There's an epilogue to come; it ties up a lot of loose ends in the fic._

_(And then some 'deleted scenes')_

_I don't know if I'm right on the 'hydrangea' thing - I just looked up good flowers that would suit the moment with Hu's grave._

_Read and review! :D Or you'll make little Kurisu cry...)  
><em>


	15. Chapter 15

Redeeming Light  
><em>Epilogue - Now I am Home<em>

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><em>

It was different, odd hospitalizing a former genocidal peacock warlord and former lord in general. The boat ride back to the palace had been tense; Shen stayed in his bunk the entire time, stiffly and awkwardly curled up, dodging any pathetic attempt one of the five made – Viper and Mantis particularly – at conversation. He stayed on the bunk, stubbornly, cursing the driver that was cheap enough not to put so much as a curtain between the bunks. He could feel the five's prying eyes on him.

Xun made the trip fun though; despite Shifu's warnings and orders of 'no roughhousing', the two sparred up on the decks of the ship, the situation often winding up with one of the two on the ground, pinned under their smug victorious opponent, getting drenched with wingful/pawfuls of water, or the instance where they had a 'sago tart fight'. Shifu had been less than pleased.

The red panda had insisted on taking a different route to the Jade Palace, rightfully assuming the village was not yet prepared for the arrival of China's-almost-demise. Arriving at home finally, all let out sighs of relief, while Kurisu eagerly squealed at spotting her long forgotten home, tugging hooves and paws to try and show around – and she tried to tug a white wing, but Shen yanked back fiercely and dashed to his quarters, where he remained the rest of the night-

-and the rest of the month, nearly. The warriors welcomed it; neither felt like they could really face the former insane and murdering warlord after everything that had happened. He saved the city, but he also destroyed and exterminated an entire village; killed his own master in cold blood – tried to kill his best friend, tried to take over China - _kidnapped_ a child – need the list go on?

Kurisu, the soothsayer, and Xun did not welcome the cold secluded attitude Shen put up now; each would try to coax him from his room, but to no avail, unless Shifu decreed it for a bit of training. Oh gods, forced to spar with one of the five.. With the serpent or the praying mantis, it'd be tense and awkward. With Tigress – oh gods, she reminded him of his Nana when she was ready to rip off his limbs (except this tiger would probably do that and feed them to him as well.)

The distancing got severe enough that, to a point, Shen was avoiding even his family. Shifu found himself pondering on what to do; he remembered the Kung Fu Council's other proposition, and thought on it, and surprising enough, it was Po that managed to talk Shifu out of it, convinced it would positively break his little sister's heart. (And he was probably right.)

Things started to climb eventually; Shen spent less and less time in his room, and more and more time with Kurisu and the soothsayer -Xun too. The wolf made one of the highest ranked guards the palace had ever had, not that that surprised Shen too much.

But if there was one thing that didn't change, and perhaps never would, it was the nightmares. They came every night, bringing the same pain, misery, and above all, fear – of losing each other again, forever. It was not terribly uncommon for Shifu to have to personally knock on Shen's door when the gong sounded, just to find the kitten curled up with him in the bedroll, sometimes in his wings, sometimes just clutching to his night robes. If the red panda had known they had had a difficult night, he'd sometimes do the true kindness by letting them have a few extra minutes of sleep. He could usually tell this by their facial expressions, and if they were shaking a bit. Even the positions both were in made it easy to tell: if they were curled up in a fetal position, it was obvious he needed to let them be; of course, the fact they'd be sleeping in the same bed was enough to say it all.

Xun and Shen hadn't hit it off too well with Shifu. The red panda frowned upon their behavior in training, which went from simple desired sparring to – depending on the area – plum fights – any food fight – splash wars, tickle fights, or just mercilessly verbally jabbing each other. He never really attempted to stop it – they were childhood friends after all; the red panda himself would probably ending up acting just as un-honorable if _he_ was with an old playmate. There was, however, a day where their immature 'play sessions' landed them in huge trouble with the Grandmaster.

It was in the morning, starting off from another horrific nightmare: _Shen was trapped again in the dream, half expecting when he opened his eyes in the illusion, he'd once again face the mob – watch Kurisu and Nana die, watch the mob just hack his limbs with their axes, watch the feathers and blood fly-_

_No, he was seeing himself; he wasn't around any mob, and he wasn't in danger, being threatened -_

he _was doing the threatening. Kurisu and Nana were in a cage, spears pointed at them by gorilla guards; the five and the Grandmaster and the stupid panda were tied up too, ready to be tossed into a – wait, when did a chasm just magically appear? (Well, it was a dream, a flying unicorn could just randomly soar by and it wouldn't be weird.)_

_Shen watched himself advance in the – boat, now he was on a boat – to Xun. The wolf was tattered, bleeding from his only good eye that had a slash right through it, shaped like a crescent moon. He had looked up at the peacock with hurt and betrayal, silently mouthing: "why?"; Shen had sneered and raised his foot (which was cased in again in the dream), and whipped it across the wolf's-_

The peacock jolted up with a scream, and a strangled coughing sharply inhaled gasp, immediately seeing a form in front of him, feeling a paw tightly grip his shoulder. No, it wasn't the kitten, she'd have _thrown _herself on him. It was Xun; the wolf's face was drawn up in confusion and concern, he kept gripping Shen's shoulder, waiting for the peacock's breathing to calm.

"Bad dream?"

"Because that wasn't distinguishable by my waking with a scream, shakes, gasps, and – well, by what happens every night?" Shen snapped. Xun was un-effected, only told him to calm, and asked softly what it was this time.

Shen pursed his beak shut tightly; he couldn't tell Xun. The wolf was already timid enough when he got in one of his moods, and when he had a relapse of his old self when the insufferable panda had pushed him to the end of his rope, and he had threatened the imbecile with a blade. That had been a traumatic moment for the entire palace – Kurisu and the soothsayer especially, so sure that he'd be sent away immediately. He wasn't, but he had been put on restriction, stripped of weapons; the entire ordeal had left everyone warier of him, Xun especially.

So how was he supposed to tell him he dreamed he killed him? Regardless, Shen managed, somehow, his head down as he retold the events of his dream, spilling even the 'I killed you' part.

Xun's expression was tight, he looked away.

"You hate me now, I'd imagine-"

"I could never hate you," Xun said; it was the truth, somehow, he never did hate the peacock, no matter what he had done.

"Yeah, right," Shen scoffed.

The wolf smirked. "Need I clarify it?" He crouched, Shen hissed, not yet awake enough nor in the mood to put up with a grapple fight. None the less, eyes blurred from sleep, Shen found himself skidding on his back into the wall, the wolf on him. He hissed again, slapping the canine with a wing.

"Xun, really – I'm barely even awake here!" Shen scrambled up from under his old friend's hold, dashing down the halls, swaying, knocking into several walls, but starting to smile. Xun was ganging up; the peacock squawked as they went tumbling into the kitchens after another pounce. He scrambled to his feet again, not about to be pinned.

Xun grabbed a basketful of oranges and started to hurl them, snickering at Shen's indignant shriek as his feathers were stained a sunset orange. Oh, it was on now.

The cabinet jostled about as it was slammed repetitively by the two warriors, and a bag or rice cookies tumbled down; the cookies went everywhere in the kitchen. A jar of candied plums teetered on the edge; Shen laughed when it came down on the wolf's head. Xun leaped at him, crushing the cookies and stuffing them in his beak and face, cackling. Shen roared out muffled curses and shouts, and grabbed the jar of plums.

"_Master Shen! Xun!_"

The two gasped and tripped in mid pounce, landing in a tangled heap at Shifu's feet. For the longest time, the red faced red panda with his quickly tapping foot let his angry eyes do the talking, watching the peacock and wolf climb to their feet and awkwardly bow, faces flushed. Shifu glared questionably, eyes darting between the two.

Not taking his eyes off the Grandmaster, Shen raised a wing and pointed to a stunned Xun.

Oh no, that had not gone well with Shifu. The soothsayer had beat him to the yelling and scolding. Shifu had watched in shocked amusement as the switch was whipped out, and just as quickly – whipped across both backsides, earning loud pained yelps. The red panda shrugged; no need for him to get involved, the soothsayer had it all covered! He just snickered softly and walked off.

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Nearly another month had passed when Shifu decided it was finally time to announce Shen's stay in the valley. Calling forth a ceremony in the stadium, the red panda hadn't been too worried. Wind of Shen's past sins had traveled all through China, but it was The Valley Of Peace that knew the least. Matter a fact, the valley barely knew anything on Po's saving China other than what they had been told. They all knew about the panda village though; that was perhaps the only thing that had the entire valley so wary.

Shen had watched them, all eyes were on him, for once trained on him and not his stupid white feathers. (That was the primary reason he was always gawked at.) Shen waited for them all to lunge with the nearest weapons they could find, but no one did.

Shifu had hurriedly set fireworks off, trying to distract the valley. Also, it was a special occasion after all: a celebration of sorts, welcoming Shen. The fireworks went off in magnificent patterns, lighting the sky with vibrant blues and purples. The audience was instantly captivated.

Though there was something wrong with the warriors: every one of the Five looked nervous, flinching a bit with every colorful explosion. Po looked apprehensive, Shen was glaring at the fireworks with a bitter hate, and Kurisu-

The kitten looked like she had seen the god of death himself rise from the ground. Her pretty blue face paled several shades; her mouth was tight, softly whimpering insistently. The loudest firework exploded with the thundering crack of a god's whip; the girl screamed, and all heads turned to her.

Shen couldn't believe it. Was this really the same kitten that had nearly gotten herself killed by disobeying orders of going to the Dragon Boat festival, just so she could see the fireworks?

The kitten shrieked and tumbled onto her back, tears streaming, hyperventilating. She dashed from the balcony before Shen had a chance to jump up and grab her. The peacock hurriedly followed, happy to get away from the stupid _ugly _killing fireworks.

Shifu blinked, confused, guilty. He had no idea – it hadn't occurred to him that the child may have a permanent fear of fireworks. She always loved them, was always the one to beg to set them off (a request the red panda strictly denied), and would stare intently as they lit the sky with a night time rainbow.

Of course, the girl had nearly been killed by these fireworks. She had watched Shen nearly die from these fireworks, watched an entire city be destroyed by them too. Of course she'd hate fireworks now. Judging by the unsettled looks from his students – still trying to recover from the ordeal themselves, the fireworks had been a bad idea.

Shifu's ears lowered.

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Shen found the girl quivering in her bedroll, crying out and jumping with the next sonic boom, yanking her blanket up over her head so she wouldn't see the lights either. She sobbed, and shrieked when the peacock lightly touched her.

"Kitten," Shen said softly. The child curled further into the pillow. Shen managed to get a light hold of her tail, flipping up the quilt and pulling her out. The moment he did, Kurisu instantly buried her face into his burgundy robe. Shen tensed, but only for a moment. (He was starting to get used to her affection.)

"Make them go away," the child sobbed. A wing barely enclosed her to his chest.

"They're just fireworks, kitten," Shen said tensely. He hated them too. They reminded him of everything he once was. They reminded him of his fall from grace. They were what ended his parents' love for him.

A wind rushed into the room from the window, roughly ruffling and messing up his feathers. He smiled. No, they'd always love him...

The peacock looked down at the girl, his heart twisting into knots as the child shook. This was his fault. He had destroyed the magic of fireworks for this girl. No, the mob had; that meant he had. It was because of him that she'd never love fireworks again...

He only sighed; there wasn't much he could do but let the child cling to him. He stayed with her in the room, flinching at every booming noise, until the last firework went off.

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During the next few months, the residents of the Jade Palace had all begun to warm up to the peacock now dorming with them. Well, all but two: Po and Tigress. The tiger had watched Shen 'kill' Po, injure him – her best friend. There was no way she could ever even attempt to be civil with him. Cold glares were a norm, as were quiet growls if he got too close to her. (And in such close quarters in the bunkhouse, that was inevitable.)

With Po and Shen...well, Shifu knew that it was impossible for things to ever be okay with the both of them. Nothing could change the fact that Shen killed Po's parents, and nothing could make the panda forget it. They wouldn't ever be friends, or even close to it. However, the red panda noted that the two made attempts to be civil. Po often tried to be friendly – just to get shot down, but at least he tried. Shen still despised the big fat bowl of jelly that had led to his defeat, but he made an effort to be civil for Kurisu's sake.

The rest of the Five had slowly become friends with the peacock. It was common to find Shen outside with the kitten and some of the five – mostly Viper and Mantis. In training, Viper and Kurisu were fond of working as a collaborated team to get the peacock to the ground. Often, Viper would bind the helpless peacock's feet together while Kurisu (and sometimes Xun) launched a merciless attack on them.

Feeling accepted by the five made it easier for Shen to continue living at the Jade Palace.

The soothsayer and Mr. Ping became close friends. Both fond of reminiscing and sharing stories of their kids – stories that would often leave Po, Shen, and Kurisu running for the hills in embarrassment. They were most fond of sharing those stories with the customers too. It became harder for the valley to fear the peacock (all elements of terror shot the moment the soothsayer re-told a story of when baby Shen took off his diaper and ran around the entire palace, naked. That story had left her chick locked in his room the entire day.)

The warm luxurious air of summer morphed into a cool breeze of fall. Soon, snow began to fall. The Jade Palace had a new tradition that they had carried through since the days Po and Kurisu came to the palace: a snowball fight to celebrate the first snow fall of winter.

Needless to say, it was the most fun the entire palace had had all year. Snowballs flew – slapping into different faces, laughter carried down to the valley below. Even Shifu and the soothsayer decided to get involved. (The red panda had refused -until Po threw a fast one, right into his mouth.) The soothsayer wasn't initially into the idea of being pelted with snow either. (And that changed when her own naughty chick stuffed a handful of it down her robe.) Then, the surrogate mother had taught her child a very hard (and frankly) painful lesson on respecting your elders – with snowballs.

The harmless child play escalated into a fierce and dangerous battle when one of Po's snowballs had gotten Shen in the back of the head. You could hear the sound of a proverbial pin hitting the floor when Shen spun around to glare. All was silent. He then proceeded to teach the panda that you do not throw snowballs at him – if you're a big fat panda.

At the end of the day, Po had various bruises and cuts, and both he and Shen were put on restriction. (Essentially a Jade Palace 'grounding.') Kurisu stayed silent on the fact that Shen seemed to deliberately go after the snowballs that had ice hidden in them, to spare the peacock a longer punishment. Snowball fights were forbidden until Shen and Po learned to 'play nice.'

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The Winter Feast came quickly, and soon the entire palace was preparing. It was tradition for the residents to wear the finest silver silk, but no one could coax silk onto the peacock, despite Shifu's gentle reminder that it was customary for the palace. They finally compromised: Shen wore silver again, but it was cotton, not silk.

Shifu again left the celebration up to Po since the panda had done marvelous the last time. They essentially threw the formal dinner idea aside, once again deciding that the dinner would be at Mr. Ping's.

In this time, there wasn't much for Shen and Kurisu to do; they spent their time in the snow. Shen was fond of a wayward hide and seek game, only because his plumage and feathers matched the terrain. He'd hide in a snowbank, snickering as it would take up to an hour for the exasperated kitten to find him. Eventually, the peacock decided to teach her some techniques in camouflaging and hiding in the white terrain, figuring her fur coat was heavy enough that she could get deep enough in the snow without risking hypothermia. Soon, it was the kitten that was impossible to find – and the kitten that would leap out of a snow pile and onto the startled bird, out of nowhere.

Bored that everyone in the palace seemed to have a task but them, both the peacock and kitten spent a lot of time with their Nana, too, fond of sitting on her bedroll while she knit them scarves and warmer socks. Both her children were fond of hiding her fabrics when the goat wasn't looking, but it was Shen that was always caught – and in many instances – pulled into his nanny's lap, his robe partially undone enough for the old goat to blow a series of torturous raspberries against his bare stomach. Spluttering and laughing, the peacock would try to rat on Kurisu – and would only receive additional punishing raspberries for 'lying.'

Xun was given preparation tasks too: his job to scour the valley for needed objects and decorations, and he would grumble and growl about being the 'delivery service', hating his job, but both Shen and Kurisu envied him. At least he got to do something! Their daily routine was getting boring.

Finally, Shen was assigned a job – and he immediately wished that he had never asked for a task. His job was to prepare the Feast's fireworks. (Shifu figuring he could give it another shot.) But more? Shen had to do this with Po.

"You aren't doing it right." Shen's stone cold snap that never arose around his family always made itself known around the stupid panda.

"Well, show me-"

"I _am!_"

Po mumbled something unintelligible, embarrassed; he grabbed a handful of the powder, situating it in the rocket. This was how it was done, right?

The firework rushed quickly up to his face – he had no time to deflect it – the panda crashed hard into the snow, Shen on him, pushing his wrists into the ground. Panting, Po looked over the peacock's shoulder, where the pretty blue firework that nearly _killed _him, exploded in the sky. Gulping, he looked up at Shen, and where the peacock was still tightly holding down his wrists.

"The only reason I saved you was for the sake of the girl. However, you do that again, and I might disregard that little fact and _let_ the firework decapitate you. Are we clear?" he whispered calmly.

"Crystal," Po squeaked. Shen got up off him, making it point to give the panda a disgusted shove for good measure.

"Let's try this again."

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By some miracle, the fireworks were ready in time for the festival. Shen still had no idea why he was put to work with the panda. He could take care of the preparations himself – didn't Shifu remember that he was the son of Lord Jin and Lady Ah-lam, the director of the fireworks in Gongmen? The descendants of the creators? Though deep down, Shen knew that this was just another failed attempt of Shifu's to somehow create peace between the two.

Shen really didn't care; he was just hoping the fireworks wouldn't send the poor kitten into convulsions again.

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The day of the Winter Feast was as hectic as one would imagine it to be. There was no boredom today – everyone was given jobs! Kurisu spent most of her time with her father, making soup and preparing for the valley's dinner. The girl brought up a few memories of _Dao-ming_, that sparked an idea with Mr Ping: sago tarts and sweet tea for dessert and beverage. Of course, Shen was in charge of that, since he was the sago tart expert around there. He sampled various recreations of sweet tea and tarts until he found them both satisfying, and they stored them in the ice box until supper came.

With a lot of encouraging/coaxing/pleading/begging (and finally a mild tantrum), Kurisu managed to convince Shen to paint a sun lantern with her. Shen was instantly reminded of one of his dreams in _Dao-ming _the moment he picked up the paint brush. They painted their rendition of the sparring match the two had, and Shen painted a separate lantern (which Kurisu noted, to her annoyance, was when she got stuck in the peach tree.)

They painted another lantern: a winter one, adding the entire Jade Palace. You could see the drastic styles, from Shen's professional paint work to the kitten's sloppy imitations of his work, trying to copy his brush's movements. They added the soothsayer, and Xun, and put the rest of the palace in the background. Begrudgingly, Shen agreed to adding Po – he painted him covered in snow, under a tree, far from the others and by himself, and shivering. Kurisu rolled her eyes.

They hung up the sun lanterns in the noodle shop, beside the first sun lantern Po and Mr. Ping had created together before she came along. Each lantern glowed, induced by the approaching moon light, as dinner started.

Shen groaned, whatever dignity he had left in him stripped completely when the old goose tied an apron around his waist and made him serve on tables. It took all his will power to keep from mutilating the many children that stroked his train (it was a bit difficult to pull it in.)

As the master arrived, they each gave him off looks; some were confused, some were beyond stunned (having never heard the news that the peacock lived with the most honorable warriors in China), others just glared. His train flared up in nervousness, slapping several customers in the face. The peacock just wanted to go off and run somewhere -especially -

-especially when he saw the ox and crocodile.

"Oh gods.." Shen wanted to sink into the snow with his stupid train, or run back to the palace as fast as he could, never to be seen again – until the masters leave and this stupid feast is over, anyways.

But no-

"Shen, why don't you go wait on that table?" Of course. Of course the stupid goose would stick him with Master Croc and Storming Ox's table. Why wouldn't he? Stupid stupid _stupid _goose!

"Can't the panda do it?" Shen asked meekly.

"No, Po is busy in the kitchen with Kurisu. Go on now, they seem nice." Mr. Ping smiled; Shen wanted to impale him. Didn't he _know?_ Of course not. The goose knew nothing beyond noodles and spices and tofu.

Deep breaths, deep breaths – oh gods, he was hyperventilating! Deep breaths – no, couldn't be done. The peacock shut his eyes tightly, tried to breathe at least enough that he wouldn't pass out, and he strode forward, to their table.

They looked at him, eyes cool and quiet, nodding their greeting. At least they didn't say hello to him; he didn't feel obligated to say it back.

"How are you adjusting?" Croc; his eyes were averted, pretending to look at his empty noodle bowl. He couldn't look at the peacock. Master Storming Ox seemed to be doing plenty of that though, coldly glowering, before turning back to his own empty dish.

"Well," Shen croaked. He really couldn't breathe now. These two – he couldn't face them – he had _killed_ their master and closest friend...he had killed..._his_ master and once friend. This wasn't like the instance where he nearly killed Xun; he wasn't able to apologize for this, directly.

"You saved the city," Master Croc decided to bring up, turning to the peacock. It was maybe the only thing that could bridge the enormous gaping hole between the three. It was his only true act of redemption after all.

Of course, they didn't know of all the little ones.

"I...guess so," Shen had to nearly choke out through his panicked tightened throat.

"The entire city would have been nothing but flattened pancakes mixed with blood and bones had you not-"

"I know," Shen sighed. His knees gave way; he had to sit down. Now, he was sitting with his former enemies. They silently sipped away at the soup. "I'm sorry." He may as well come out and say it, however fruitless it was.

The two masters exchanged looks. They had to take into consideration – what Master Thundering Rhino would do if he was still alive. He would forgive him. Why? Because he was sorry.. There was no other way Shen could truly make up for his crimes other than to be sorry. An apology showed true redemption.

The masters knew what their master would say; they said it for him:

"You're forgiven."

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It was nearing the end of the celebration. People were hung over their chairs and tables, looks of discomfort on their faces, but laughing and flushing profusely over eating too much. The portions of noodles had dwindled nearly to nothing, and now it was the cooks and waiters that finally got to eat. Oddly enough, Shen ate at Master Storming Ox and Master Croc's table, sliding over a tray of sago tarts to them. They smirked, fondly recalling his obsession with the delectable treats when he was younger.

"You made these?"

"The kitten did – I sampled them." He bit into a tart, the brilliant burst of sugary flavor filling his mouth. He smiled. "She did pretty good." Then, he added with a cocky smirk: "but they're nothing compared to mine."

Master Croc smirked a bit, biting one himself. He found it pretty good.

"Why didn't you make them then, if you're such an expert?"

The peacock glowered at the busily eating and chatting villagers. "I had to wait on these stupid commoners."

"Shen!" Mr. Ping. "There's someone here asking for you!"

He tensed, immediately. Who could be -asking – for _him?_ No one in the valley was truly afraid of him, but they neither liked him either. Was it Xun? No, the wolf was busy arguing with Po over...if a radish was a fruit or vegetable. (Ludicrously enough, it was Xun that was thinking it was a fruit.)

Rather frightened to step out of the restaurant, certain a blade or pitch fork would be plunged into his eye, the peacock warily made his way to the entrance. His mouth gaped.

"Birdy!" Shen was nearly slammed into an occupied table by the sheer force of the toddler's pouncing hug. Somehow, he manged to stay upright – though his train fanned up again and slapped someone else. Oops, it slapped the same goose.

"Birdy! Birdy!" Little Teng – substantially older now; a tiny bit bigger -nuzzled his train, nuzzled the hauntingly white feathers that he found pretty. (And only he.) "Birdy, I miss' you!"

The elder rabbit smiled, bowed, and nodded. "Master Shen."

"Mother Rabbit, what are you doing here?"

The mother smiled, gently prying her struggling toddler off the peacock's feet now, wrapping her arms around him so he couldn't jump again.

"My family are in The Valley Of Peace – we visit them every Winter Feast." She smiled. "As of late, the masters have gathered and hosted the feast at the noodle restaurant. We figured you'd be here, and we're glad you're here." Her ears lowered sheepishly. "We wouldn't feel right just walking into the sacred palace."

Shen rolled his eyes. "If the Grandmaster allows someone as dishonorable and as that stupid panda to just 'walk' right into the palace -and more, live there – I think you're fine. What do you even want me for?"

The mother exchanged a look with her eager toddler. The bunny squealed when he knew what was coming next.

"Teng and I both made you something." She reached into her satchel, carefully extracting-

-a sun lantern. The peacock took it as gently as he could, spinning it. It was clear what mother had done, and what child had done. The mother had painted him in the center of the lantern; his wings up, holding -what the child had painted in a messy scrawl, a scribbled black mass: the boulder. The child had painted the house; the mother had painted Kurisu.

Shen found himself smiling to himself, not even bothering to shake his foot in annoyance when the toddler clung to it. He ran a wing over the details of the lantern.

"Thank you." The mother smiled and bowed; little Teng did too. Shen hesitated. "The fireworks are starting soon." He tried not to grimace mentioning them. "Would you like to come watch them?"

Little Teng squealed. "Fiah'works!" His mother laughed, gently scooping him.

"If we're allowed – we don't want to impose-"

"This stupid holiday is all about 'imposing', it seems," Shen smirked, looking at the restaurant exploding with villagers. "So there's no need to worry."

The mother rabbit smiled at him, nodding. Noting that the valley was beginning to make their way to the stadium, she followed suit, waving to the peacock – well, little Teng was doing that.

Shen moved quickly through the now nearly deserted diner, pushing back several empty vegetable boxes, and pushing the swinging door open. He navigated through the dim room – barely lit by the hanging sun lanterns. The peacock found a spot just beside the sun lantern of him and Kurisu in _Dao-ming_, carefully hanging the paper creation beside it. The enhanced light dappled through the restaurant, brightening it. Every image was clear, you could see it all:

He and the kitten as they had played by _Dao-ming's_ waterfall, laughing, tackling each other into the spring, hurling plums at one another – suddenly, it was playing like a moving picture; it was Shen's memories, when he and the kitten did play together – the time where they had their first spar – when he was pinned under her and his nanny and mercilessly tickled. He smirked and turned to the other lantern: the one with him and the boulder.

He saw the boulder moving again, ready to crush him; he saw himself shoving against it, saw him stopping it from crushing the city, averting its path and pulling it another direction. Saw him nearly sacrificing himself for the city. He could see Master Storming Ox and Master Croc watching from afar in awe.

Smiling to himself, the peacock hurried out of the restaurant and up to the stadium.

The sky was taking on a brilliant bluish gray hue; a winter sky. The crowd was waiting in anticipation. The warriors looked nervous, but a far cry from last time Shifu attempted to set off fireworks.

The red panda turned to Shen. "Are you ready, Shen?"

"I suppose.." The peacock looked uncertainly over to Kurisu, who was once again cowering – against a tree, eyes closed, balled up, waiting for the first explosion. He didn't want to to do this – it'd be like betraying the girl! She hated fireworks now, and he did too.. The warriors weren't too thrilled about this either. _Why_ were they doing this?

"I don't know about this, Master Shifu..." As he said this, he glanced pointedly at the kitten. Shifu looked too, and sighed, just as unsure.

"The fireworks are a winter tradition, Shen. We cannot cancel them."

The peacock sighed in annoyance and nodded. The red panda was right – it was probably bad enough that so many traditions had been broken, thanks to Po; Shifu at least wanted to keep one of them.

An idea struck the peacock. He smiled, making sure that he set the firework down before walking towards the terror stricken kitten. Once he touched his wing against her paw, the girl felt safer.

"Come, kitten." The girl allowed him to gently pull her to the edge of the balcony. She clung to his cotton robes, tears staining their silver fabrics. The moment the child caught sight of one of the fireworks, she shrieked, twisting around in his arms to bury into his chest.

"No, no – look." Shen gently turned the girl around; she was whimpering as she looked at the blue sparking explosive.

Shen knew the only thing that could perhaps rid the child of her fear was to confront it; it was like when he was a chick, and suffering from nightmares. Nana told him he had to stand up to what scared him in the dreams, show them who's boss, that they didn't control him!

That's what he had to do with Kurisu. The warriors, and the valley's eyes were on them both, awaiting the first firework, wondering what was taking so long.

The peacock guided the kitten's shaking paw to the firework, entwining the rocket strings in the girl's fingers. Shaking, she looked up at him.

"Release the launcher."

Kurisu took a hold of the firework launcher; she let go, stumbling back into Shen's chest as the firework exploded in the sky with a spectrum of fabulous colors: blue, red, purple.. The child's erratic breathing began to slow. She looked up at Shen; the peacock smiled gently at her, staring at the fireworks himself.

All his hatred and anger with the tiny explosives beginning to fade off, replaced by a deep tranquil feeling. Judging by the kitten's calm expression as she cuddled into his chest, she felt the same way.

For once, Shen could actually appreciate the beauty of fireworks. See them for what they were _meant_ to be – see what they were _meant_ to bring: joy, happiness, magic..._peace._ Both the peacock and the kitten said nothing, neither did anyone else in the valley, not even little Teng. A peaceful hush following over the crowd as they silently watched the fireworks.

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Smoke was still being carried by the winter wind. Icy fingers touched Shen's pale cheeks, leaving a pink flush, a cooler sensation. The peacock stood under the peach tree in his night robes, head tilted back, feeling every soft snow flake as it melted against his beak.

He watched their patterns, gently touched a delicate snow crystal with a wing. The snowflake didn't break, even with the weight of his wing.

Shen felt his un-cased talons swirl gently, making a snowy circle in the wet terrain. His wings gracefully dipped through the air; he kept his eye on a falling snowflake. Gently, the peacock held out his wing. Steady, calm, peaceful.

The snowflake landed, standing on the very last feather on his wing tip. It moved majestically, like a little white wheel, down his arm, past his shoulder, down his other arm, off his wing-

-and landed delicately in the snow.

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_(The end. I cried when I wrote the ending. no, I know it isn't sad, but it's the last thing I'll ever write of "Redeeming Light"! Well...ALMOST the last. *smirk* I have a 'deleted scenes' chapter, tied with songs and soundtracks that would suit this if it was a movie. And, talk of "Life With A Peacock"? Oh, what's that? A sequel? May haps..._

_Anyways, credit to the amazing famous Domenic for inspiration on Shen hiding in the snow, and slight credit for the sun lantern part. I rather winged it with the fireworks and how they go off. (Firework strings? lolz.) But I think I got most accurate enough._

_I want to thank all my amazing reviewers! I had no idea "Redeeming Light" would be such a hit on here, or ESEPCIALLY DA! I've gotten so much fanart of it on DA, and - EEEEE! - it makes me squeal. I couldn't have done this without you, my dear reviewers! Look out for the 'deleted scenes' chapter - some are pretty darn funny! _

_"Misadventures" will be updated soon!)_


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